Deliberate infection
article 5A(1) of The Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981
- Revoked
- Requires proof of a state of mind
- 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The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.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
1 A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or excuse (proof of which shall lie on him), he knowingly or recklessly does any act which causes or is intended to cause an animal or bird to be infected with
a disease.
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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
- breaching the provision
- Fault element
- Requires proof of a state of mind
- Burden of proof
- An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove
The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).
“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).
Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).
The defence, as drafted
1 A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or excuse (proof of which shall lie on him), he knowingly or recklessly does any act which causes or is intended to cause an animal or bird to be infected with a disease.
What would breach article 5A(1)?
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.
- Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
Penalty
- Mode of trial
- Not determined
- Maximum fine
- Not determined
- Maximum prison (summary)
- Not determined
no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.
No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.
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)
- Any person who obstructs or impedes any person duly authorised under Article 9 to make any inspection shall…article 53(2)
- 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 “commits an offence”
- 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