To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration has been given to issuing summonses against those involved with the Dutch transport firm Nicolay on behalf of Kent county council concerning offences alleged under the Welfare of Animals During Transport Order 1994. [38703]
The summonses issued by Dover magistrates' court on 8 December 1994 for service in the Netherlands on W. Nicolay and named employees of the company were received by the UK Central Authority in the Home Office on 3 February 1995 and were forwarded for service to the Ministry of Justice in the Hague on 26 February. The summonses were not served by the authorities in the Netherlands, but the company submitted voluntarily to the jurisdiction of the magistrates' court. The charges against the employees were withdrawn. The case was heard on 23 October 1995.