A legal amendment has been published to introduce a 12-point penalty system for administrative offences listed in Schedule VIII of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations and Schedule II of the Regulations on the Protection of Wild Rabbits

The Ministry for Gozo said on Saturday that, each category of offence is assigned a number of points ranging from two to four according to the Schedule in the relevant Law, for example four points for the use or possession of any electrical or electronic equipment.

Once an individual has accumulated 12 points or more over a two-year period, his / her license (that associated with the offences committed in case he / she holds more than one license) will be suspended by the Wild Birds Regulation Section ( WBRU) and the Police for a period of one year.

During the period of suspension, the licensee will not be eligible to apply for any other related license.

The Ministry said that all points will be set to zero if the licensee does not commit other administrative offences within two years from the date of the last offence.

In the event that the licensee appeals the administrative fine to the Administrative Review Tribunal, and until the Tribunal decides whether or not to revoke or change the administrative penalty, the two year period will remain in force and the penalty points relating to that offence in question will be added to any penalty points which the accused accumulates, and will be deducted from the total only if he is acquitted of the charges brought against him.

Administrative fines related to each category of offences have remained the same, the Ministry said, however a number of offences have been added to the list qualifying for an administrative fine and are therefore no longer subject to court proceedings. No details were provided on those reclassified offences.

For all non-administrative offences (subject to referral by the Court), the legal amendments also mean that a person who has, for example, both a general ground hunting license and a general trapping license and is convicted of a trapping-related offence, will not be suspended will only have the trapping license revoked, and vice versa.

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