The Epic Fireworks Blog

Posts Tagged ‘law’

2 shopkeepers from Edinburgh guilty of supplying fireworks to under agers

Mohammed Saeed Qadir, 50, and Mohammed Waheed Qadir, 39, of Edinburgh Bargain Stores in St Patrick Square, failed a test purchasing exercise last November.

The shop’s owners pled guilty to the charge of selling to people under the age of 18.

The pair were fined £500 each at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week.

Last year underage volunteers took part in 20 test purchases in the city, during which four sales were made to the teenagers.

The failure rate of 20% compares to figures of 8.8% in 2006 and 10% in 2007.

In previous years shop keepers caught selling fireworks to those under age received a warning.

However, council officials are now able to send their reports to the procurator fiscal after the lord advocate decided that the children’s evidence could now be used in court.

Robert Aldridge, Edinburgh City Council’s environment leader, said: “I am very concerned that a fifth of retailers we tested sold fireworks to young people regardless of age.

“This behaviour is totally unacceptable. Fireworks can cause serious injury and can kill so we must ensure that they are not being sold illegally to children.

“I hope these fines will serve as a stark warning that retailers must abide by the legislation.”

The three remaining cases will be heard by the courts over the next three months.

Every year officers from the city’s environmental health and trading standards department carry out a test purchase programme between 15 October and 10 November with volunteers who are aged 15 or 16.

From BBC Scotland

Firework Legislation

Watching fireworks is popular and fun. But fireworks are explosives and potentially dangerous, so they need careful handling and storage.

That is why there are laws in place to govern the use and possession of fireworks, and how they are stored and sold.

Legislation has been introduced (see below) to help make fireworks safer to use and to tackle their deliberate misuse. It affects how fireworks are imported, sold and used, and places restrictions on possession.

It means that fireworks will be safer, less noisy and can only be let off at certain times. It also means that those misusing them to either damage property or injure will be able to be dealt with by the relevant authorities.

Fireworks will only be widely available during the weeks leading up to Bonfire Night and a few days before New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year. For the rest of the year, you will only be able to buy fireworks from shops that are licensed to supply them.

From Epic Fireworks – Misc.

Penalties

It is an offence under section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 to throw or set off fireworks in any highway, street, thoroughfare or public place. The power to enforce this section of the Act rests with the police. Anyone found guilty is liable to pay a fine of up to £5,000 and can be imprisoned for up to six months. Penalty notices for disorder (on-the-spot fines) can also be issued for this offence, attracting the upper tier fine of £80.

In Regulations made under the Fireworks Act 2003, it is also an offence for the under 18s to possess fireworks in a public place and for anyone to let fireworks off during night hours (11pm to 7am). Police also have the power to issue penalty notices for disorder for these offences. Again, the offence attracts the upper tier fine of £80.

Under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to any domestic or captive animals. The penalty on conviction is either imprisonment up to 51 weeks or a fine of up to £20,000 or both. Enforcement of this section of the Act rests with Trading Standards, the Police or the RSPCA as appropriate.

Remarkable shots of fireworks set a backdrop for a brief educational tour on the history of fireworks and why they’re illegal in Los Angeles, CA.

The Attorney General has appealed a landmark court judgment that could make a number of fireworks factories illegal, following on similar appeals by pyrotechnics enthusiasts.

In the appeal, the Attorney General said it was “disproportionate” that fireworks should be stopped in two feasts “just because one or two families’ swimming pools get dirty”.

“In Malta, we all put up with inconveniences because of the size of the island, like traffic, continuous construction, dust in the air, among other things but, since the Zammit Maempels live in a rural area, they don’t have to put up with a lot of the inconveniences,” the Attorney General said.

The case revolved around a complaint the Zammit Maempel family had made about fireworks let off close to their house for the feasts of St Helen and St Anthony in Birkirkara.

Permits for the fireworks had been issued, allowing them to be let off from areas closer to built-up zones than what the law actually stipulates. This could happen because the law defines inhabited area as a place where more than 100 people live. The family contested this and won the case and the judge declared the legal definition null and void because it discriminated against people who lived in sparsely inhabited areas.

In the appeal, the Attorney General said the judge cited rulings that were based on an examination between serious environmental pollution and the respect of privacy, family and home. The letting off of fireworks was certainly not serious environmental pollution nor was it continuous. Fireworks were very important to the island’s traditions and religion and were also an integral part of the tourism economy because they attracted tourists during feasts.

 Taken from  The Times of Malta

A court ruled today that the definition of “inhabited area” in the law governing the granting of permits for the letting off of fireworks was in violation of a family’s fundamental human right to privacy and to freedom from discrimination.

The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Raymond C Pace in a constitutional application filed by Frederick Zammit Maempel, his wife Suzette and his children Julian and Martina against the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General. The Saint Helen Fireworks Association later intervened into the suit. Click here for the full story.