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error Westminster making it illegal possession of eggs collected between 1954 and 1981, the museum left at risk of prosecution

weaknesses in the law-making procedures of Parliament were exposed by a curious case that covers an egg collector Tyneside, the appearance of a nonexistent crime, and criminalization of museums in the United Britain.

Seven years after an update of the nature of legal regulations slipped almost unnoticed through Westminster, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has admitted this week that "illegally" to a new crime the legal system.

The unintended result of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Regulations Amending rarely deployed, Statutory Instrument (SI) 1487/2004, was shot dead by the persistent questioning of lawyers.

Quincy Whitaker, a lawyer at Doughty Street Chambers, London, and Nigel Barnes, a lawyer with the firm of Sunderland and Newcastle Ben Hoare Bell, realized that a drafting error had accidentally deleted Parliamentary defense above and put in place, the cuckoo, as a crime constitutionally impossible.

regulations designed to harmonize the protection of birds in the UK with EU law prohibits the possession of wild eggs collected from 1954 to 1981. Enforcement of the law and wildlife used the new regulations to pursue a number of people.

The change in law has never been subject to public consultation, it was not debated in Parliament. Retrospective criminalization caused the historical museums collections, scientific research organizations and private collectors for the risk of persecution.

One of the first people to discover the law has changed is John Dodsworth, 52, who has been convicted of wildlife. His home was raided by the team of riot police in 2006 and has approximately 1000 eggs were seized from there. "The officers used a battering ram to force their way into the children were very upset to see their parents mistreated by the police."

In short, three years after Dodsworth, an asbestos removal parent, pleaded guilty to a crime of possession of the eggs of wild birds, "but said," I never prosecuted. goal should have been when I took the court stated that it was a strict liability offense and I had to plead guilty. I was given a service of 100 hours of community service. "

Helater decided to appeal against conviction and sentence. The sentence was annulled in January 2010 and received an absolute discharge based Dodsworth no one was aware of this possession was a crime at the time. "But we still prosecute people for this as recently as September," he said.

A reversal in the disputed section of SI 1487/2004 proved more difficult.

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