CHAPTER
247
ANIMALS (CONTROL OF EXPERIMENTS) |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
SECTION |
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Experiments only to be performed by licensed
persons. |
No experiments to attain manual skill. |
Prohibition of experiments for illustration of
lectures subject to certain conditions. |
Restrictions upon performances of experiments by
licence. |
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|
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Revocation of licence or permit. |
Entry on warrant by justice. |
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Restriction on prosecution of licensee. |
CHAPTER 247 |
ANIMALS (CONTROL
OF EXPERIMENTS) |
An Act to
control experiments on living animals. | 42 of 1957
G.N. 172/1964
E.L.A.O., 1974
5 of 1987 |
[Commencement 15th
July, 1957] |
1. This Act may be cited as the Animals (Control of
Experiments) Act. | Short title. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- | Interpretation. |
"animal"
means a living vertebrate animal; |
"experiment"
means any experiment performed on an animal and calculated to give pain; |
"licensee"
means a person licensed under section 7 of this Act. |
"Minister"
means the Minister responsible for Public Health. |
3. (1) No person except a licensee shall perform any
experiment. | Experiments only to be performed by licensed persons. |
(2) No licensee
shall perform any experiment except in accordance with the terms of his licence
and subject to the restrictions imposed by this Act. |
4. No licensee shall perform any experiment for the
purpose of attaining manual skill. | No experiments to attain manual skill. |
5. No licensee shall perform any experiment for the
purpose of illustrating any lecture at any university, university college,
hospital, medical school, agricultural college, farm school or any other
academic institution unless he is the holder of a teaching permit under this
Act, and unless the experiment is of a class specified in such permit and is
performed in accordance with the terms of such permit. | Prohibition of experiments for illustration of
lectures subject to certain conditions. |
6. (1) Except as otherwise provided in section 5 of
this Act, no licensee shall perform any experiment except- | Restrictions upon performances of experiments by
licence. |
(a) for the
purpose of the advancement by new discovery of physiological knowledge, or of
any knowledge which will be useful for saving or prolonging life, or
alleviating suffering, or for combating any disease whether of human beings,
animals or plants; |
(b) for the
purpose of testing any former discovery alleged to have been made for the
advancement of the types of knowledge referred to in paragraph (a) of this
subsection; |
(c) by the
order in writing of any judge of the Supreme Court in any case where such judge
is satisfied that it is essential for the purpose of justice in a criminal case
to make such experiment. |
(2) Except as
otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, no licensee shall perform
any experiment unless- |
(a) throughout
the whole of the experiment the animal is under the influence of some
anaesthetic of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling pain; and |
(b) if the pain
is likely to continue after the effect of the anaesthetic has ceased, or if any
serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, the animal is killed before it
recovers from the influence of the anaesthetic which has been administered. |
(3) The provisions
of subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to any licensee who is the
holder of a special permit granted under section 9 of this Act in relation to
any experiment specified in such special permit. |
7. (1) The Minister may grant a licence to any person
to perform any experiment for any purpose specified in such licence during such
period and subject to such conditions in addition to the conditions specified
in this Act as he may think fit. | Grant of licence. |
(2) It shall be a
condition of any licence granted under subsection (1) of this section, that any
experiment performed pursuant to such licence shall be performed at such place
as may be specified in such licence. |
8. (1) Where the Minister is satisfied that it is
necessary for the due instruction of persons attending any course of lectures
for the purpose of acquiring physiological knowledge or any knowledge which
will be used for saving or prolonging life, or alleviating suffering, or for
combating any disease whether of human beings, animals or plants, for any such
lecture to be illustrated by the performance of any experiment, the Minister
may grant to a licensee under this Act a teaching permit to perform any experiment
specified in such licence for the purpose of illustrating such lecture. | Permits. |
(2) Every teaching
permit under this section shall be subject to such conditions in addition to
any conditions specified in this Act as may be specified in such permit, and
such permit shall remain in force for twelve months from the date on which it
is granted. |
9. (1) Where the Minister is satisfied that the object
of any experiment permitted to be performed by a licensee under this Act would
necessarily be frustrated- | Special permits. |
(a) by the
performance of such experiment under any anaesthetic; or |
(b) by killing
the animal on which such experiment is performed before it recovers from the
influence of any anaesthetic, |
he may grant
a special permit authorising the licensee to perform such experiment without
administering any anaesthetic to the animal or without killing the animal
before it recovers from the influence of such anaesthetic as the case may be. |
(2) Any special
permit under this section shall specify the period for which it shall remain in
force. |
10. (1) Every licensee under this Act shall keep, in
such form as may be prescribed, records of all painful experiments performed by
him. | Records and inspections. |
(2) Every licensee
under this Act shall permit any person authorised in writing by the Minister to
inspect any records kept by him at any time between 8 a.m.
and 6 p.m. on any day other than a Sunday or public holiday. |
(3) Every licensee
under this Act shall permit any person authorised in writing as aforesaid to
enter and inspect, for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions
of this Act, any place specified in such licensee's licence for the performance
of experiments. |
11. Every licensee shall render to the Minister in
such form and at such time as may be prescribed such returns as may be required
in relation to any experiments performed by him. | Returns. |
12. (1) The Minister may make rules generally for the
better carrying out of the provisions of this Act. | Rules. |
(2) Rules made
under this section may without prejudice to the generality of the power
conferred by subsection (1) of this section provide for the keeping of records
of all experiments performed by any licensee under this Act and for the
rendering of returns in relation to any experiments performed under this Act. |
13. It shall be a condition of every licence or permit
granted under this Act that such licence or permit may be revoked at any time
by the person granting it on his being satisfied that such licence or permit
ought to be revoked. | Revocation of licence or permit. |
14. A justice of the peace, on information on oath
that there is reasonable ground to believe that experiments in contravention of
this Act are being performed by an unlicensed person in any place not registered
under this Act may issue his warrant authorising any officer or constable of
police to enter and search such place, and to take the names and addresses of
the persons found therein. | Entry on warrant by justice. |
Any person who
refuses admission on demand to a police officer or constable so authorised, or
obstructs such officer or constable in the execution of his duty under this
section, or who refuses on demand to disclose his name or address,
or gives a false name or address, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding
twenty-five dollars. |
15. Every person who acts in contravention of any of
the provisions of this Act or of any condition of any licence or permit granted
under this Act shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and unless
otherwise provided shall be liable upon summary conviction to a
fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six
months or to both such fine and such imprisonment. | Penalty. |
16. A prosecution under this Act against a licensee
shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney-General. | Restriction on prosecution of licensee. |