Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries Act 2007

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River watchers.

21.— (1) Section 56 of the Act of 1952 is amended by the substitution for subsections (2) to (4) of the following subsections:

“(2) A person appointed to be a river watcher shall not act in that capacity until his appointment is confirmed by the appropriate court.

(3) A person making application under subsection (2) for confirmation of the appointment of a person as a river watcher shall, not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing of the application, give notice in writing of the application to the Commission, and the Commission shall be entitled to appear before the court, be heard and adduce evidence on the hearing of the application, and may do so by one of its officers or by solicitor or counsel.

(4) The confirmation of the appointment of a person as a river watcher shall be effected by the District Judge of the appropriate court endorsing the instrument of appointment.

(5) The appropriate court may, upon complaint made to it, revoke the appointment of the river watcher, and thereupon the appointment shall be terminated.

(6) Where a person who has appointed a river watcher revokes that appointment, he shall, within 14 days of the revocation, serve written notice thereof on the District Court clerk of the appropriate court.

(7) Where—

(a) the appointment of a person as a river watcher has been confirmed under subsection (4) or revoked under subsection (5), or

(b) notice of the revocation of such an appointment has been received under subsection (6),

the District Court clerk of the appropriate court shall notify the Commission of such confirmation or revocation or, as the case may be, such notice, as soon as practicable.

(8) Any person who appoints another person to act as a river watcher shall, not later than 31 January in each year, make to the Commission a return in such form and containing such information as may be prescribed.

(9) The Commission shall maintain a register of the names and addresses of those who are entitled to act as river watchers and descriptions of the geographical areas in which each of such persons is entitled to so act.

(10) If any person—

(a) acts as a river watcher without having his appointment confirmed under subsection (4),

(b) so acts after his appointment has been revoked either by a court under subsection (5) or by the person appointing him, or

(c) so acts after he has ceased to be a river watcher by virtue of section 56A,

he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,500.

(11) In this section and sections 56A and 56B ‘the appropriate court’, in relation to a river watcher, means a court of summary jurisdiction sitting for the District Court district (or any one such district where there is more than one) within which the river watcher is appointed to act and ‘District Court clerk’ shall be construed accordingly.”.

(2) The Act of 1952 is amended by the insertion after section 56 of the following sections:

“Duration of appointment of river watchers.

56A.— (1) Any person whose appointment as a river watcher is confirmed after the coming into operation of section 21 of the Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries Act 2007 shall, unless his appointment is renewed under section 56B, cease to be a river watcher on the expiration of 5 years from the date of that confirmation.

(2) Any person whose appointment as a river watcher was confirmed before the coming into operation of that section shall, unless his appointment is renewed under section 55B, cease to be a river watcher—

(a) on the expiration of the period of 5 years from the date of that confirmation, or

(b) on the expiration of the period of 1 year from the coming into operation of that section,

whichever is the later.

(3) A person who ceases by virtue of this section to be a river watcher may be re-appointed as such under section 56.

Renewal of appointment as river watcher.

56B.— (1) Where a person (‘the applicant’) intends to renew the appointment of a river watcher, he shall, not less than 6 weeks before the date on which the appointment is to cease to have effect, serve a notice, in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed, on—

(a) the District Court clerk, and

(b) the Commission.

(2) Where the Commission objects to the renewal of the appointment of a river watcher, it shall, within 21 days of receiving a notice under subsection (1), notify the applicant and the District Court clerk of its objection and of the grounds thereof.

(3) Where, within the time specified in subsection (2), the District Court clerk has received no notice of an objection under that subsection, the District Judge assigned to the district concerned may confirm the appointment and endorse the instrument of appointment to that effect.

(4) Where the Commission notifies the applicant that there is an objection to the renewal of the appointment, the applicant may apply to the court for confirmation of the renewal of the appointment.

(5) A person making application under subsection (4) for confirmation of the renewal of the appointment of a person as a river watcher shall, not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing of the application, give notice in writing of the application to the Commission, and the Commission shall be entitled to appear before the Court, be heard and adduce evidence on the hearing of the application, and may do so by one of its officers or by solicitor or counsel.

(6) The confirmation of the renewal of the appointment of a person as a river watcher pursuant to an application under subsection (4) shall be effected by the District Judge endorsing the instrument of appointment.

(7) Where the appointment of a person as a river watcher has been renewed under this section, the District Court clerk shall notify the Commission of that renewal as soon as practicable.”.