Offences in respect of Article 3

Q: Is article 53(2) of The Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

article 53(2) of The Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

Revoked
Strict liability
Summary only
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlife

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 Any person who obstructs or impedes any person duly authorised under Article
9 to make any inspection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction—
a in the case of
a first offence to
a fine not exceeding level
3 on the standard scale; and
b in the case of
a second or subsequent offence, to
a fine not exceeding £50 or to imprisonment for
a term not exceeding one month, or to both.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds: a person
Conduct: obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element: Strict liability
Burden of proof: No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach article 53(2)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

On these words an offence is committed where a person obstructs or impedes any person duly authorised under Article 9 to make any inspection.
Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine: £1,000
Standard scale: Level 3
Maximum prison (summary): 1 month

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017
Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status: Revoked
Revoked by: The Transport of Animals and Poultry (Cleansing and Disinfection) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007
Revoked on: 28 May 2007
Made: 31 July 1981
In force from: Not determined
Extent: N.I.

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

Other offences in the same instrument

Orders prohibiting import of animals, etcarticle 24(5)
A person to whom a restriction notice is given commits an offence (whether or not the notice is the subject…article 32G(1)
Any other person commits an offence if he uses any semen, egg or embryo which he knows, or has reasonable…article 32G(2)
If any person has in his possession or administers to any animal a substance, in contravention of Article…article 35(1)
Powers of entry: supplementary provisionsarticle 46C(11)
Any person who without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him,— a contravenes any…article 52(1)
(l) rep. by SR 2003/495 m where the Department has by order prohibited, absolutely or conditionally, the use…article 52(2)
A person who— a fails to give his name and address when required to do so under Article 46C(4); or b gives a…article 52(8)
Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes any false statement for the purpose of obtaining for himself or…article 53(1)
Deliberate infectionarticle 5A(1)
Deliberate infectionarticle 5A(2)

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis: the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence: 0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlifeOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1981