If a defendant is relying on an an exemption then that is something that he must prove on a balance of probabilities after the prosecution has proved the elements of the offence as it is something that only the defendant can do.This has been a basic tenet of ENGLISH Law and is proper.So if a motorist is driving on a public road he /she must produce evidence of insurance NOT visa versa.Far from being a draconian Law the Hunting Act has banned unnecessary cruelty while allowing farming husbundary to continue.The Countryside Alliance ,in my opinion is attacking the ,albeit technica,l defences at it's own risk!!

james rea barrister at law {retired}, Launceston, cornwall

The burden of proof in any prosecution always must fall on the prosecution; one is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.

Of course EU law is generally the opposite.

Stan-expat, usa, usa

A way of life for a very long time in this country must not be alöud to be destroyed by small minded politicians. I will fight to preserve this and our wild animals for future generations.KEEP HUNTING
Nick Priddle Barnstaple Devon.

Nick Priddle, Barnstaple, Devon

Its about time we as a nation stood up to draconian new laws..now i dont know much about fox hunting..and i dont really care,but i do know all the Do-gooders are ruining our country..Big Time.....With over 60 pubs a week closing..and 7,000 jobs on the line at rank bingo,its now time to reinstate ''Freedom2choose'' especially regarding the draconian no-smoking ban......

zanuzi, nazi birmingham, nazi england

"A huntsman can go out with two dogs to flush out a fox from cover to protect farm animals, crops or other property although the animal must then be shot."

I regularly use four dogs to flush out wild deer to protect my woods. I do this with the full knowledge of ther police. Under the barmy Hunting Act I can only use two dogs but then must shoot the deer.

What a complete load of nonsense this law is. I've never killed a deer in my life and I'm not going to start because of this incompetant legislation.

I'll carry on breaking the Hunting Act with the full knowledge of the police and the League Against Cruel sports. These organisations will not prosecute me because they know it is absurd for what i do to be illegal.

giles bradshaw, south molton, Devon

Helen of Oxford, the men in red jackets call them "PinK" because the name of the famous tailor who made them and who still exists today is called Pink. Hence the expression, "Being in the Pink."


David B. Monier-Williams Scottsdale AZ USA

David B. Monier-Williams, Scottsdale , US Arizona

Banning fox-hunting is about moral progress not class prejudice. Thank goodness it has at long last been legally acknowledged that watching animals being torn apart alive for entertainment is totally unacceptable.

Cat, London, UK

I am probably the most ardent Anglophile in the USA. But when I read tha tyou have laws that prevent a man from turning his dog loose on a squirrel or a mouse, I understand how you lost your Empire.

Bobby Beecher, Oak Park , Georgia, USA

There's a lot of legislation in this country that seems to be based on taste. The anti-hunting crowd dislikes people dressing strangely more than they dislike the actual hunting. Similarly, the dangerous dogs legislation is as much about chavs/neds in fake bling and shiny tracksuits as it is about boofy dog breeds.

Until people can separate their silly prejudices (what harm does a bloke in a red suit he insists on calling 'pink' do to you?) from the actual object of the legislation, nothing will make any sense. And dogs will be expected to distinguish between a rabbit and a hare (as if!).

I'm a foreigner, although I live and study in the UK. I'm therefore loathe to tell people in my adopted country how to live their lives. That said, the people above who pointed out the class prejudice behind this law have a legitimate point.

Helen, Oxford,

Now it's time to amend the draconian prohibitionism (i.e., the smoking ban).

Interestingly, a judge in an Italian court ruled it was not the responsibility of business owners to police smoking in their establishments. I sense a similar loophole in our law, (the Health Act states that 'all reasonable action' must be taken to prevent smoking) primed for exploitation.

Tim Clarke, Wigan, England

It is clear that those who made the laws know little about the workings of the countryside. They believe that the country is a romantic idyll there for their enjoyment; for walking on, picnicing in etc. I am sure that they forget that the countryside is a real place with real people, and that living here is not easy, farming is a hard way of life, it is a different way of life to the one the law makers live in the cities.
This is proved by the laws which they make. The rights of way act is nothing but trouble- it has resulted in many livestock escaping and litter covering a much vaster area than it did before. Land is my lively-hood.
The best example of city dwelers not understanding the countryside is the hunting act. Hunting is percieved to be 'cruel' and 'barbaric'. The people who say so forget that foxes are vermin, much like rats. Hunting with dogs is an effective and traditional method of keeping their numbers down. I'm very sure that if they were not 'cute' no one would care.

H Wilde, Yorkshie,

Johnathon, Manchester asks is foxhunting sport or control? The people at the sharp end are the ones sorting out the pest control (before the ban) as near to survival of the fittest as possible (Control). Followers are 'riding to hounds' crossing unkowncountry the quickest way they dare (Sport). One reason our cavalry was so good you know. You will see a lot of point to pointers and eventers learning to look after themselves (horses and riders)and maybe a dressage horse or two who have become a bit stale and need a day out. Foot followers are reminising, longing or hoping their offspring will stay onboard! As to the clothes, red coats of the hunt staff can be seen from afar; like the black ones they are warmer, thicker giving more protection than tweed, stocks can become bandages, boots protect. Stranger than footballers silky shorts, cyclists bright dayglow lycra, motorcyclists matching leathers, kickboxers pyjamas, and as for that seen in strictly come dancing?....I rest my case!

H. Found, Newport, Isle of Wight

Whether hunting is right or wrong (nice or nasty) the law should treat everyone as innocent until proven guilty with the burden of proof lying with the prosecution (whatever government ministers might promise).

Anything else is an erosion of our common law and a further step towards the inquisitorial system of law found in European countries such as France (maybe that is what this government's EU federalists intended).

Huw Sayer, Norwich, England

The Smoking Ban will be another law put to the test on 31st December 2007 ( NATIONAL SMOKING DAY ) when smokers throughout the UK will IGNORE the ban and light up INSIDE pubs and clubs.

Dartagnan, Edinburgh, Scotland

When Law Lords and Judges alike cannot agree on the interpretation of the Law on Hunting with Dogs, it is surely time to repeal. Such laws framed by government in the name of cruelty but in fact inspired by prejudice will always fail as they do not address the intended issues. The countryiside is strong and will survice the onslaughts by an Urban based and uniformed government. Good Hunting!

Ian McAllister Anderson, Ashford, Kent

Fox hounds are bred to be slower than their quarry otherwise there would be no chase. It follows then that the majority of the foxes they kill are sick or old or both. Thus it might be said that hunting is merely natural selection accelerated.
Much anti hunting is driven by class envy and its arguments are false. Cock fighting, bear bating etc were not banned on humane grounds. They were banned to orevent assembly of crowds at a time when the government feared revolution.
Many years ago I hunted in Cheshire and the members of the Tarporley Hunt Club which formed the "toff" nucleus included many prats.The wider hunt was made up of farmers,shopkeepers.jocks etc Met many horse and hound lovers but didn't meet many fox haters.

ian skidmore, march, cambs

I would be interested to see a well-crafted poll on this issue now. Whatever were people's prior views on the perceived cruelty attributes of hunting (I say perceived: nature is pretty cruel in case you hadn't noticed) I wonder whether people think this leglislation is well-founded and sensible or just another Labour-knows-best-for-everyone thing. Sandra from Nevada: possibly the most pointless comment I have ever seen on a blog.

AG, London, UK

One urban nutcase here. I have no problem with hunting for food but so-called fox hunt in the disgusting manner it is carried out by the so-called huntsmen in weird clothes is nothing more than a demonstration of the degenerate meanness that all humans are capable of but which most of us manage to keep under control by reason of our ability to display moral behavior. The idea that there could be any justification for such behavior is ridiculous. As for hobbys why not take up kite flying, gets you out in the fresh air, can be done on horseback if you are so inclined and would be a whole lot less noisy.

Shirley Hodge, Glasgow, E. Renfrewshire

This particular law is poorly drafted but the intent is good. I come across the local hunts most weekends in the hunting season and I despise them for their cruelty. |t's an anachronism then needs to be be sorted out properly since it serves no-one when the smug bloodsports alliance spokewoman can openly laugh about the legal loopholes on the TV news,

David Jones, Loughborough, UK

what seems to be rarely mentioned is that the purpose of the original campaign against foxhunting had little to do with protecting foxes. it was mainly class-warfare against people who ride horses. the naive drafting of the legislation also reflected this.

bruce, apt, france

The only thing that gets properly flushed out when this subject is raised is all the ignorant loonies who don't understand how damaging foxes are to country life. I lost eight chickens this year to one fox who killed for the sake of it.

I personally would not dress up like a tit and hunt foxes on horseback, and that is the problem - people are confusing a very useful service to country folk like me with a class war - but I do believe that hunters should be legally allowed to hunt and kill foxes with hounds and dress in absurd clothes if they want to.

(It always seems ironic to me that those who protest loudest about protecting foxes remain mute when it comes to protecting unborn children.)

Injustice remains while a few urban nutcases ruin the traditional pursuits of country people.

Jack Bloxam, Edinburgh,

This is another case where stupid laws are created that can not be enforced, however so that the goverment can be seen to be politicaly correct they are trying to make the person charged with a hunting offence to prove his own innocence.
We are dealing with animals here and if your dog is off the lease on a walk and bolts for a squirrel that is an illegal act, what nonsense!
It seems that this politicaly correct issue is breaking into a persons human rights.
This type of stupidity motivated by a minority fraction is why I immigrated from the UK!

Derek Willmott, North Carolina, USA

why can't they just muzzle the dogs?.

des, manchester, england

Jaques De Villiers...

That must be one of the most sagacious comments I have heard here for some time.

The prosecution process I guess is one of the Royal Perogatives which in turn is a hang over from Trespass on the Kings Case. The royal prerogatives are to be exercised outside the Gordon - Ment.... Or should be. However they are also exercised outside the Legislature (and Executive) as well and hence the separation of they and the Judiciary (and Courts)...

So there should be no political pressure and influence brought to bear as there wasn't with the Cash for Honours scandal...

Pete Balchin, Solicitor , Bristol, UK

The ban has had little effect and it is business as usual for the hunts.

Dan, London, UK

Is the Crown Prosecution Service going to appeal, or is the government?

The CPS is not part of the government, which is not a party in criminal proceedings.

Jacques de Villiers, London,

Is hunting a sport (I will never understand why animals are killed for sport) or vermin control ? Nobody seems to know ? This Hunting legislation appears chaotic !

It can be interpreted in any fashion eg I notice that squirrels can't be hunted, therefore one must assume that both red and grey are protected, yet many people consider grey squirrels vermin.

I believe that the first problem that needs a solution is determining whether hunting is sport or control. Once this has been achieved we can formulate relevent legislation.

The influencing factor for me is when it comes to the fox hunts (probably because it is the most debated) - it is conveyed as a way of controlling foxes but hunts put on a show as if it were a sporting event - they can't have it both ways.

Jonathan, Manchester,

Don't the police have better things to do than regulate this ban? And since when do people have to prove that they are not guilty! Labour have well and truly destroyed this country, and they should all be exiled to Moscow where they belong.

Neil, Oxford, UK

Foxhunting is one of those examples of the corruption of democracy, where we, the people, are dictated to by the vociferous minority.
Hundreds of years experience has evolved a fair and humane way of dealing with pests, yet this has been thrown out wholesale by muddled thinking busybodies who offer no constructive alternatives.
Simply because foxhunters appear to be enjoying their work.
It's difficult to see where the sympathies of these do-gooders are.
Are they more in favour of maimed foxes dying a slow and painful death from near-misses or poisoning? Or farm stock being savaged by them?
I have no personal connection with either side of the argument, but I can recognise sense behind traditional foxhunting as the fairest solution. (Oops! I used the 'T' word so hated by busybodies)

Tony Collins, Redruth, Cornwall

As ever another .... up by our lords and masters.If dog owners/walkers are responsible for birds where are
the cat owners responsibilities

John, Crosby,

Just goes to show how morally brankrupt Labour are to spend so much parliamentary time on class warfare.

Pitiful, absolutely pitiful.

fnusnuank, Gen., Switz.

Lthogh I have no sympathy for all these so called hunters, but
i really can't see the good reason to prosecute them why ??
Why bother unless, they were harming community,costing the
tax-payers, yes old fashion-cruel and hurting habitat may be ?
but surely eating meat is equally cruel, am i wrong ?

Cllr Ken Tiwari (Independent), Oxford, United Kingdom

The extract about the law shows you how ridiculouse this peice of legislation is. For example if you were walking a dog and it started to chase a mouse, what do you do? go to a police station and confess and be fined any thing up to £5000, it is a law on borrowed time and is a waste of police time aswell as a waste on taxpayers money. Apart from anything the law is unforceable , and is a law based on complete spite.

Ian Firth, Bury St Edmunds, England

Since turnabout is fair play, I'd like to see the day when the hunters become the hunted.

Sandra, Nevada, USA

It's a dog's breakfast of a law forced through after 700 hours (compare the time spend debating Iraq!) because of prejudice. A waste of police time and resources.

A Dog Owner, Rural England,

Could we please have less emotive and more value neutral terminology - country sport rather than blood sport? Shame on you; the Times used to be a quality newspaper.

Anya, Sedgeford,