Local Government Act, 1994

Offences and penalties.

40.—(1) A person who contravenes a provision of a bye-law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or such lesser amount as may be specified in a bye-law under this Part in respect of such contravention.

(2) If the contravention of a provision of a bye-law (other than a contravention for which a lesser amount is specified in a bye-law) is continued after conviction, the person causing the contravention shall be guilty of a further offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 per day.

(3) An authorised person may request any person who appears to be contravening or to have contravened a provision of a bye-law relating to any land, service or any other thing provided by or under the control or management of the local authority to leave such land or to refrain from any activity and may remove any person failing to comply with such request.

(4) (a) A person who obstructs or impedes or refuses to comply with a request of an authorised person acting in the exercise of the functions conferred on an authorised person by this Part shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) Where an authorised person is of the opinion that a person is committing or has committed an offence to which this section relates, the authorised person may demand the name and address of such person and if that demand is refused or the person gives a name or address which is false or misleading, that person shall be guilty of an offence.

(c) A person who is convicted of an offence under this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

(d) Where a member of the Garda Síochána is of the opinion that a person is committing or has committed an offence to which this section relates, that member may arrest the person without warrant.

(5) A person shall not be bound to comply with a request of an authorised person under this section unless the authorised person produces, if requested by the person, evidence of appointment as an authorised person for the purpose of this Part.

(6) Where an offence under this section is committed by a body corporate and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that officer or person, as well as the body, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(7) An offence under this section may be prosecuted by the local authority which made the relevant bye-law, by any other local authority acting on its behalf or by a member of the Garda Síochána.

(8) All fines in respect of offences under this Part shall be paid to the local authority by which the relevant bye-law was made.

(9) It shall be the duty of a local authority whenever required so to do by any Court of Justice, to produce to the court a true copy of the bye-law and to verify the copy to such court by having endorsed thereon a certificate signed by an officer of the local authority, whose official position it shall not be necessary to prove, by which the bye-law was made and the court shall receive the copy in evidence and thereupon, the copy shall, unless the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of the bye-law.

(10) In this section “authorised person” means a person authorised in writing by a local authority for the purpose of this section.