LITTER and the LAW

The National Litter Seminar 2008

Tullamore Court Hotel
County Offaly
22nd October 2008

Brid Flynn
Executive Solicitor
Cork City Council
CORK CITY COUNCIL
 Definition of “Litter”

Litter is defined in Section 2(1) of the Act as –

“a substance or object, whether or intended as waste (other than waste within the
meaning of the Waste Management Act, 1996, which is properly consigned for
disposal) that, when deposited in a place other than a litter receptacle or other
place lawfully designated for the deposit, is or is likely to become unsightly,
deleterious, nauseous or unsanitary, whether by itself or with any other such
substance or object, and regardless of its size or volume or extent of the deposit;”
 The Duties and Functions of Local Authorities

The duties and functions of Local Authorities are set out in Part III of the Litter Pollution Act
1997 – the principle duties are;

¾ Section 7 – “A local authority shall ensure that each public road in its functional area is, so
far as practicable, kept free of litter”.

¾ Section 8(1) “…….. shall take all practicable measures for the prevention of the creation,
and for the prevention and overcoming of the polluting effects, of litter in its functional
area and for the control and disposal of litter…..”

¾ Section 8 (3) “….. make arrangements for the regular emptying and cleaning of such
receptacles at such frequency as will ensure that no such receptacle or its contents will
become a nuisance or be the cause of litter.”

¾ Section 8 (4) “A local authority may empty and clean litter receptacles that are provided by
another person.”
 Litter Management Plan

¾ Section 10 This section requires each local authority to make a Litter Management
Plan; these plans should be reviewed at least every three years. A Local Authority
when making or reviewing its Litter Management Plan should have regard to the
following;

The proper planning and development of its functional area, having regard to the contents of
its development plan and any waste management plan made under the Waste Management
Act 1996 and any special amenity order made

¾ Section 29 – The Minister may issue directions and guidelines which a local
authority has to take regard of;

¾ Section 12 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 sets out the procedure for making,
amending or replacing a local authority’s litter management plan.
 PROSECUTIONS
The main section of the legislation which constitutes the majority of prosecutions by Cork City Council is Section 3(1) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 –

“3.-(1) No person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to any extent from a public
place”.

This includes a front garden of a house.

Deposit is defined in Section 2(1) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 as “in relation to a substance or object that can
constitute litter in respect of any place, means to throw, drop, dump, abandon or discard the substance or
object, as the case maybe, or allow it to escape or be released in or into the place;

Public Place is defined in Section 2 (1) of the Act as “means any place to which the public has access whether as
of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge”.

Other Sections of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 under which prosecutions are brought by the City Council are:
Section 3(2) No person shall –

a) deposit any thing that is commercial, household, industrial or municipal waste in any place for collection by or on behalf of a local authority or by
another person, or
b) load, transport, unload or otherwise handle or process any thing or carry on a business, trade or activity in such circumstances as to create litter or
lead to litter in any public place or any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.
Section 19 (1) Where any structure or other land, door, gate, window, tree, pole or
posts is in or is visible from a public place, a person who is not the owner,
occupier or person in charge thereof shall not -

a) exhibit or cause to be exhibited thereon any article or advertisement, or

b) carry out or cause to be carried out any defacement thereof by writing or other marks, unless the person
is authorised in advance to do so in writing by such owner, occupier or person in charge or by or under
any enactment.

Section 27 (1) Where a mechanically propelled vehicle, other than a large public
service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1961, is used in the
commission of an offence under this Act-

a) The registered owner of the vehicle,

b) If the vehicle is the subject of a hire-drive agreement at the time of the commission of the offence, the
person who hired the vehicle, and
c) If the person using the vehicle at the time of the commission of the offence is not the registered owner or
the person who hired the vehicle, the person using the vehicle at that time, or each of them severally
shall be guilty of an offence, whether or not any other of them is prosecuted and convicted for the
offence
Notice
 Notice
1. The name and address of the person on whom the notice is to be
served,

2. Litter Offence – the Section under which the Notice is issued,

3. The date of the offence,

4. The location of the offence,

5. If vehicle involved the vehicle registration number,

6. The name of the Local Authority and its address,

7. Signed by the Warden issuing the notice with his warden number
and dated
DISTRICT COURT SUMMONS SCHEDULE 1
No. 15.2
COURTS (NO. 3) ACT 1986
Section 1
SUMMONS
DISTRICT COURT AREA OF CORK CITY DISTRICT NO. 19
CORK CITY COUNCIL
PROSECUTOR
HILDA OGDEN
ACCUSED

WHEREAS on the day of 20 , an application was made to this office by Deborah G.

Hegarty, Law Agent on behalf of the above named Prosecutor for the issue of a summons to you, the above-named
Accused, of 112 Layabout Lane, Cork alleging the following offence(s)-
that you did on the 15th August, 2008 at Patrick Street, Cork in the court area and district aforesaid deposit a substance or
object so as to create litter in a public place or in a place that is visible to any extent from a public place, contrary to the
provisions of Section 3(1) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 and did thereby commit an offence CONTRARY to Section
3(6) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 such offence to be enforced under Section 26 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997.

THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU that you will be accused of the said offence(s) at a sitting of the District Court for the court
area and district aforesaid to be held at the Courthouse, Anglesea Street, in the City of Cork on the 24th day of
December, 2008, at 10.30 am.

AND TO REQUIRE YOU to appear at the said sitting to answer the said accusation(s).

The appropriate District Court Clerk specified in relation to this Summons is Gerardine O Leary of the District Court
Office at the Courthouse, Anglesea Street, Cork.

Dated this 16th day of October, 2008.

______________________
Gerardine O Leary,
Appropriate District Court Clerk,
Cork District Court,
Anglesea Street,
Cork.
Issued out of the District Court Office at The Courthouse, Anglesea Street, Cork
To Hilda Ogden
112 Layabout Lane, Cork
The above named-accused.

REF:
 DISTRICT COURT
Cork City Council brings its summons to the
District Court by way of Prosecution the
summons sets out on its face the following:

¾ The name of the accused;

¾ the date of the alleged offence;
¾ the location of the alleged offence;
¾ the Section of the Act under which the prosecution is being
brought;
¾ the court date and location.
The following will be handed into the Court:

¾ Certified copy Manager’s Order in respect

of the prosecution,

¾ Certified copy Delegation Order

¾ Companies Office Searches if Accused is a

Company.
Section 25(4) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997
“Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act in proceedings brought by
a local authority, the court shall, unless it is satisfied that there are special and
substantial reasons for not so doing, order the person to pay to the local authority the
costs and expenses measured by the court, incurred by the local authority in relation
to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence, and the costs and
expenses incurred by the local authority in the collection and disposal of any litter to
which the prosecution relates.”

Section 25(5) of the Litter Pollution Act 1997

“Where a court imposes a fine or affirms or varies a fine imposed by another court
for an offence under this Act in proceedings brought by a local authority, it shall
provide by order for the payment of the amount of the fine to the local authority and
such payment may be enforced by the local authority as if it were due to it pursuant
to a decree or order made by the court in civil proceedings.”
 PENALTIES

¾ Section 24 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 has been amended

by Section 58 of the Protection of the Environment Act 2003.

¾ District Court (Summary Conviction) – to a fine not exceeding

€3,000 and €600 for each day an offence continues after
conviction.

¾ The maximum penalty on conviction for an indictable offence

are €130,000 and €10,000 for each day the offence continues
after conviction.