In Northern Ireland, powers to tackle issues relating to local environmental quality (LEQ) are covered by two pieces of primary legislation. The Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (and its associated Code of Practice), and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 that allows councils to take action in relating to littering offences, fly-tipping, fly-posting and graffiti.
Other relevant legislation in Northern Ireland relating to local environmental quality include the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and the more recent Anti-Social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004.
It is TIDY Northern Ireland's opinion that the powers provided under these items of legislation are fragmented, limiting how effectively they can be used to reduce adverse local environmental quality issues. The powers available to councils in Northern Ireland are not as resolute as their counter parts in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Disclaimer
The following information can only serve as a brief guide and synopsis of the most relevant articles of legislation relating to litter and local environmental quality. It does not constitute legal advice. It may be misleading if relied upon as a complete explanation of legal issues involved. If any matter is to be acted on the full texts of the legislation and relevant statutory instruments must be consulted.
| Article | Explanation |
| 3 Offence of leaving litter | If a person throws down, drops, or otherwise deposits litter in, into or form any place open to the air, and leaves, any thing that can cause or lead to defacement by litter they are guilty of causing an offence. A council, in order to abate litter, can make known to the public the penalty for the above offence. |
| 4 Offence of permitting dogs to foul | If a person in charge of a dog permits that dog to deposit its excrement in any public place they are guilt of an offence. These regulations do not apply to a blind person in charge of a dog or to a stock person in charge of a working dog being used to drive livestock. *NB: This article states a person is guilty of an offence if they allow their dog to foul on public land. Councils in NI typically enforce this legislation that a person is guilty of an offence if they fail to clean up their dogs excrement if it has fouled on public land. |
| 5 Enforcement of articles 3 and 4 | Council employees can be made authorised officers of the council and if they think an offence has been committed under article 3 or 4, they can demand the name and address of the person who they believe are guilty of an offence. If a person believed to be guilty fails to comply with this demand they are guilty of an additional offence and can be further fined. The council can institute proceedings for an offence being committed within its district under articles 3 and 4. |
| 6 Fixed penalty notices | When an authorised council officer believes a person is guilty of articles 3 and 4, in their district, they can issue them a fixed penalty notice. This notice offers the guilty person the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for that offence by payment of a fixed penalty. The guilty person has 14 days to pay a £50 FPN which means they can not be convicted of that offence. If a person does not pay a FPN they can be convicted of that offence in a court. |
| 10 Litter Control Areas | A council can designate any land in its district as a litter control area. The council can only implement this article if in their opinion, unless they make a designation, the presence of litter and the condition of the land is detrimental to the amenities of the locality. |
| 13 Street litter control notices | To prevent the accumulation of litter in and around streets or open land adjacent to any street, a council can issue a street litter control notice. This notice imposes requirements on the occupier of the premises in relation to litter. If a council is satisfied that there is a recurrent defacement by litter of any land being part of, or adjacent to, the street which is in the vicinity of the premises they can serve a notice. A council can serve a notice where the condition of any part of the premises which is open land in the vicinity of the frontage is detrimental to the amenity of the locality due to the presence of litter. The council can also serve a notice when the activities carried out on the premises cause litter in such amounts as to cause defacement to the frontage of the premises and the land in the vicinity of the premises. |
| Article | Explanation |
| 18 Removal of graffiti and fly posting | Councils can remove or obliterate any graffiti, which in their opinion is detrimental to the amenity of any land in its district. Councils can remove any placard or poster which, is displayed in its district and which in its opinion is displayed in contravention of the advertisement regulations. The council can serve a notice to the responsible person (for the graffiti or fly posting) under this article requiring graffiti and posters to be removed within 14 days of the notice being served. If after the 14 day notice has expired and the graffiti and fly posting has not been removed the council can authorise a person to remove or obliterate the graffiti or fly posting and recover the costs from the 'responsible person'. In this article the 'responsible person' refers to the landowners on which the graffiti/fly posting is placed, and the goods, trade, business or other concern being publicised. |
Only the department (Planning Services) has powers to fine people guilty of an offence under article 18 of the Local Government Order.
Powers for councils to tackle adverse local environmental quality issues are spread over several different pieces of legislation. In addition to the Litter (NI) Order 1994 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 1985, powers exist within the Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997, the Pollution Control and Local Government (NI) Order 1978, and the Anti-Social Behaviour (NI) Order 2004. The Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997 repels some of the articles in the Pollution Control and Local Government (NI) Order 1978. It is often hard to identify what articles are still legal, and which articles have been repelled. The fragmented nature of local environmental quality legislation also makes it hard to follow.