UK Offence Report

Prohibition of certain methods of killing or taking wild birds

article 6(1) of The Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

1 Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—

a sets in position any of the following articles, being an article which is of such

a nature and is so placed as to be calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild bird coming into contact therewith, that is to say, any springe, trap, gin, snare, hook and line, any electrical device for killing, stunning or frightening or any poisonous, poisoned or stupefying substance or muscle-relaxing agent;

b uses for the purpose of killing or taking any wild bird any such article as aforesaid, whether or not of such

a nature and so placed as aforesaid, or any net, baited board, bird-lime or substance of

a like nature to bird-lime;

c uses for the purpose of killing or taking any wild bird—

i any missile which is not discharged from

a firearm, including in particular any arrow or spear;

ii any explosive other than ammunition for

a firearm;

iii any automatic or semi-automatic weapon;

iv any shotgun of which the barrel has an internal diameter at the muzzle of more than one and three-quarter inches;

v any metal bar, axe, hatchet, cudgel, club, hammer or similar instrument;

vi any device for illuminating

a target or any sighting device for night shooting;

vii any form of artificial light or any mirror or other dazzling device;

viii any gas or smoke not falling within sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) or

ix any chemical wetting agent;

d uses as

a decoy, for the purpose of killing or taking any wild bird, any sound recording or any live bird or other animal whatsoever which is tethered, or which is secured by means of braces or other similar appliances, or which is blind, maimed or injured; or

e uses any mechanically propelled vehicle in immediate pursuit of

a wild bird for the purpose of killing or taking that bird, he shall be guilty of an offence . . . .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach article 6(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.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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.

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
In force
Made
13 February 1985
In force from
Not determined
Extent
N.I.

How this was established: read from the revised (currently in force) text.

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Other offences in the same instrument

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”
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