CASESTUDYFollowingan outbreak of “swine flu” in Oxfordshire in October 2016,Denmark has banned all “imports of pork” from the UK to Denmark.Although the disease is highly contagious between humans it cannot becontracted from pigs, or from eating pork. The Danish embargo hasprompted angry scenes in the House of Commons, encouraging the UKGovernment to introduce the (fictitious) Meat Imports Retaliation(Denmark) Act 2016, (MIRDA 2016). The MIRDA, brought into effect onthe 30th November 2016, entitles the Secretary of State for“Environment, Food and Rural Affairs” to do “as he sees fit”in order to meet the objectives of the legislation. In February 2017,the Secretary of State passed the (fictitious) Meat ImportsRegulations, banning “the import and export of all meat productsbetween the UK and Denmark”. George has a large farm near Dover,in Kent, and exports live pigs to Denmark at least once a fortnight.As there has been no recorded incidence of swine flu in Kent, the UKGovernment has not introduced a ban on the movement of pigs in thesouthern counties of England, (although it has done so in the West).Consequently George has arranged to continue exporting his pigs toDenmark for the next six months, as scheduled. On the 1st March, ananimal rights group, who object to the export of live animals forslaughter, blocked the gangway to a boat belonging to Zippy ExportsLtd, preventing George’s pigs from being loaded for transit toDenmark. The police were called but Inspector Bungle, whose wife isthe Director of the animal rights group concerned, refused to actagainst the protesters. Instead he arrested George for committing anoffence under MIRDA 2016 and insisted that the pigs were returned tothe farm. George was released from the police station within 24hours but has since been served with a summons stating that he isbeing prosecuted by Dover District Council for attempting to exportmeat products in breach of the “2017 Meat Regulations”. Georgehas also received a letter from Rainbow Lawyers4U, acting on behalfof Zippy Exports Ltd, who are claiming payment in accordance with theterms of their contract for transporting the pigs, including anypotential loss of earnings from that same contract over the next sixmonths. Advise George as to the following. Each question isworth equal marks. (NB: 200 WORDS PER QUESTION)1)The difference between the legal status of the Meat ImportsRetaliation (Denmark) Act 2016 and the Meat Imports Regulations 2017and whether or not George is likely to be in breach of either one ofthem. Your answer should include an evaluation of any relevantconstitutional principles and rules of statutory interpretation thatare likely to affect any judicial decision making.2) The distinctionbetween an appeal and an application for judicial review and howeither of these options might apply to George’s case if he isconvicted at the Magistrates Court.3) The likelihood of Zippy Exports succeeding inany action brought against George for breach of contract.
