UK Offence Report

24 A person who contravenes any of the provisions or requirements of this Order, or who permits or causes…

article 24 of The Sales, Markets and Lairs Order (Northern Ireland) 1975

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

24 A person who contravenes any of the provisions or requirements of this Order, or who permits or causes any person to contravene such provisions or requirements, shall be guilty of an offence against the Diseases of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1958.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 24?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes any of the provisions or requirements of this Order, or who permits or causes any person to contravene such provisions or requirements.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Sales, Markets and Lairs Order (Northern Ireland) 1975, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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.

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
Status not determined
Made
17 October 1975
In force from
1 December 1975
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order but is intended to indicate its general purport.) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order revokes the Public Sales (Cattle) Order (Northern Ireland) 1962 and re-enacts the provisions of that Order in relation to public sales of cattle and swine. The offering or exposure for sale of cattle or swine in a public place is prohibited and public sales of those animals may only be held in markets approved by the Department. Exception is made for certain draft sales held on private premises. Standards are prescribed for the planning and construction of approved markets, lairs connected with such markets and lairs at a port or airport. Requirements include the provision of covered accommodation for the protection of calves, dairy cows in milk and swine, and facilities for the washing of vehicles used in transporting animals. Approved markets may be further approved for the holding of sales of cattle and swine intended for EEC trade, and assembly points may be approved for the collection of such animals prior to shipment to a member State. The Order includes provisions for the protection of animals (cattle, sheep, goats and swine) while in markets and lairs, and covers such matters as treatment and removal of unfit animals and the feeding, watering and penning of animals.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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