Litter Act, 1982
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Prohibition of articles and advertisements on and defacement of certain structures, etc. |
7.—(1) Where any structure or other land, door, gate, window, tree, pole or post is in or fronts any public place, a person who is not the owner, occupier or person in charge thereof shall not— | |
(a) exhibit or cause to be exhibited thereon any article or advertisement, or | ||
(b) carry out or cause to be carried out any defacement thereof by writing or other marks, | ||
unless he is authorised so to do by such owner, occupier or person in charge or by or under any enactment. | ||
(2) Without prejudice to the liability of any other person under subsection (1) of this section, where there is a contravention of that subsection— | ||
(a) in the case of an advertisement relating to a meeting or other event, the person who is promoting or arranging the meeting or event, and | ||
(b) in the case of any other advertisement, the person on whose behalf the advertisement is exhibited, | ||
shall be deemed also to have contravened that subsection. | ||
(3) A local authority may, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by it and the occupier concerned, in the case of an article, advertisement or defacement in its area in relation to which there is a contravention of subsection (1) of this section— | ||
(a) by its servants or agents, remove the said article or advertisement or, as the case may be, remove or otherwise remedy the said defacement, and | ||
(b) for those purposes, by its servants or agents enter on the structure or other land concerned or the structure or other land on which is situated the door, gate, window, tree, pole or post concerned. | ||
(4) In a prosecution for an offence under this section in relation to a contravention of subsection (1) of this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to show and it shall be assumed until the contrary is shown by the defendant, that the defendant was not the owner, occupier or person in charge of the structure or other land, door, gate, window, tree, pole or post and was not authorised as referred to in subsection (1) of this section. | ||
(5) A person who contravenes or is deemed to have contravened subsection (1) of this section or who obstructs or impedes a local authority or its servants or agents acting in the exercise of the functions conferred on a local authority by subsection (3) of this section shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(6) A prosecution shall not be brought in a case in which an offence under this section is alleged to have been committed in relation to an advertisement if— | ||
(a) the advertisement is exempted development within the meaning of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 , or | ||
(b) the advertisement— | ||
(i) advertises a public meeting, or | ||
(ii) relates to a presidential election within the meaning of the Presidential Elections Act, 1937 , a general election or a bye-election, within the meaning, in each case, of the Electoral Act, 1923 , a local election, a referendum, within the meaning of the Referendum Act, 1942 , or an election of representatives to the Assembly of the European Communities, | ||
unless the advertisement has been in position for seven days or longer after the day specified in the advertisement for the meeting or the latest day upon which the poll was taken for the election, bye-election or referendum concerned. | ||
(7) Notwithstanding section 19 of this Act, section 80 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 , shall not apply in relation to an offence under this section. | ||
(8) In this section and in section 8 of this Act— | ||
“occupier”, in relation to a door, gate, window or tree, means the occupier of the structure or other land on which the door, gate, window or tree, as the case may be, is situated and, in relation to a pole or post, means the owner of the pole or post; | ||
“structure” has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 . |