Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006

Trial in District Court of person charged with offence on boat detained by sea-fisheries protection officer.

23.— (1) Where—

(a) a sea-fisheries protection officer has in exercise of the powers conferred on him or her by section 18 or by section 26(2)(e) of the Act of 2003 detained a boat and the persons on board it at a port in the State, and

(b) a person (being one of those persons) is alleged to have committed an offence under this Part,

the person may be brought before the appropriate judge of the District Court and—

(i) if the offence is not an offence under a section specified in a Table, that judge may hear and determine the case, or

(ii) if the offence is an offence under a section specified in that Table, that judge has jurisdiction to deal with the case under section 28 (2) or (3), as may be appropriate.

(2) In this section “appropriate judge of the District Court” means the judge for the time being assigned to the district court district in which is situated the port in which the boat and persons concerned are detained.

(3) Subsection (1) shall not be read as affecting section 79 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924 .