24- To what extent is it allowable and legitimate the cancellation of the license of a meat house, butchery or a slaughterhouse activity?

Finding:

The cancellation of the license of a meat house, a butchery or a slaughterhouse activity shall be made by a reasoned resolution of the Chairman of the Central Municipality Council.

Reasoning:

As the legislator has decided the cancellation of the commercial, the industrial and the similar places of activities which has been determined in Article (14) of the law of the Commercial, the Industrial and the similar general places No., (3) 1975, so it has been mentioned among these situations the cases where there is an imminent danger, peril, menace or a hazard to the public health, public security. The cancellation of the commercial, the industrial and the similar places of activities, on the other hand, could b effected where it has been detected that there are some indecent acts or acts which are estimated to be harmful to the public order have been or about to be committed. Such cancellation shall be according to the issuance of a reasoned resolution from the Chairman of the Central Municipality Council.

The legislator has allowed for the authorities to include in the resolution the full cessation and stoppage of the administration of the meat house from performing any activity or by the supervision and observation of the regulations which are the concern of the Ministry of the Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs which have already been fixed. Most important among which are those regulations which pertain to the commercial and industrial or the similar public places in addition to the special regulations that concern the ready made food which are prepared for the human consumption.

The legislator has obligated the authorities that before the issuance of the cancellation resolution to give a warning notice to the concerned person to remove, eliminate or put an end to the violation, the infringement or the transgression and its consequences or aftereffects within fifteen (15) days after his reception to the written notice or warning.

In application to what has been submitted in the aforementioned legislation, it is evidenced from the documents that the Doha Municipality Manager has issued the resolution No., (246) 2006 which has included a butchery meat house for two (2) months according to the rule in Article (32) of the law No., (8) 1990 that has catered for the regulations that controls and manages the supervision of Foods.

 What has been resolved was because the concerned butchery or the meat house has repeated the contraventions with regard to its keeping and offering the public the expired validity date meat for sale. It has been proved more than once that the concerned person has repeated his cheating the public in this sensitive matter of selling the expired validity date meat to the public at large, without due respect or regard to its being not fit for the human consumption. All of that have been made by cheating and with completely disregard to the commercial fitness of his meat to the purpose. There are changes also in packing and mixing some edible food with others which are not, and by changing the dates of production and the expiration date by extending the expiration date to fall within the safety period. This has never stopped at this  vulgar cheating stage, but it extended to his joining the inedible bad meat with fresh edible meat, by mixing it together to be chopped to pieces, and to be minced and repacked and to be earmarked by cheated new expiry dates to fall within the required safety measures and untraced.

Whereas these contraventions have been determined beforehand and it have been proved according to the judicial procedures in this respect according to the rules in both Articles (19), (20) of the law that regulates the supervision of foods that may become hazardous to the general public heath, therefore, the reasons for one of the situations of cancellation of the licenses conspicuously exists as is stipulated in Article (14) of the law No., (3) 1975. It is the act of a repeated transgression to the public order considering that the public health is one of the integral ingredients that have urged the promulgation of this legislation. This is enough to obligate the issuance of the reasoned cancellation resolution of the license. This resolution shall be issued by the Chairman of the Central Municipality after his giving a notice or a written warning to the person concerned.

______________________________________________________

Please don’t take this statement of advisory opinion for an official statement of the law.

Al – Meezan/ Qatar Legal Portal

______________________________________________________