# The Reservoirs (Enforcement etc.) (Scotland) Order 2016, Paragraph 7: Defence


It is a defence to a charge in proceedings for an offence under paragraph 6 for the reservoir manager to show both—
(a) that the failure to comply with the stop notice was as a result of either an accident which could not reasonably have been foreseen or natural cause or force majeure which was exceptional and could not reasonably have been foreseen; and
(b) that the reservoir manager—
(i) took all practicable steps to prevent an uncontrolled release of water from the reservoir; and
(ii) took all practicable steps as soon as was reasonably practicable to rectify the failure; and
(iii) provided particulars of the failure to SEPA as soon as practicable after the failure arose.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/sdsi/2016/9780111030844/schedule/1/paragraph/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-reservoirs-enforcement-etc-scotland-order-2016/schedule-1/paragraph-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.