Legal Competence in Environmental Health

	7
Enforcement policy

7.1 ENFORCEMENT STYLES

There can be little doubt of the importance of consistency in enforcement of the law. Inconsistent enforcement in any area of the law may give rise to a lack of public confidence in the enforcing agency and a feeling by those subject to enforcement proceedings that they are being unacceptably victimised. Such inconsistency, where found to exist, is often simply a manifestation of a lack of more formal guidance in the overall regulatory decision-making process. Environmental Health Officers have been criticised in the past for a lack of consistency in their approach to enforce ment. Much of this has been proven to be unjustified, nevertheless the perception of inconsistency is itself something ...