UK Offence Report

16 1 No person shall attempt to land an animal in Northern Ireland the landing of which is prohibited under…

article 16 of Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order (Northern Ireland) 1977

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

16 1 No person shall attempt to land an animal in Northern Ireland the landing of which is prohibited under Article 4, or cause or permit the landing or attempted landing of any such animal 2 It shall be an offence against the Act for any person knowingly, and with intent to evade any provision of this Order, or any provision of a licence granted thereunder— a to land or attempt to land an animal in Northern Ireland the landing of which is prohibited under Article 4, or to cause or permit the landing of any such animal; or b to land or attempt to land an animal in Northern Ireland in contravention of any provision of this Order or of a licence granted thereunder or, in respect of the landing of an animal in Northern Ireland, to fail to comply with any such provision, or to cause or permit any such contravention or non-compliances or c with respect to an animal which has been landed in Northern Ireland, to do or omit to do anything relating to the detention and isolation in quarantine of the animal in contravention of any provision of this Order or of a licence granted thereunder.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, with intent to).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, with intent to.

What would breach article 16?

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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order (Northern Ireland) 1977, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. 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
29 April 1977
In force from
7 June 1977
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.

For the purpose of preventing the introduction of rabies into Northern Ireland, this Order controls the landing in Northern Ireland of any animal belonging to the orders of mammals set out in Parts I and II of the Schedule to the Order. Animals may not be landed except under and in accordance with the conditions of a licence granted by the Department, but the restriction does not, except in certain circumstances, apply to animals brought from the Republic of Ireland, or to dogs and cats from Great Britain, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Animals brought from countries other than Great Britain, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland must be detained in quarantine for a period of 6 months from the date of their landing in Northern Ireland, but in the case of vampire bats, their entry is only permitted on the condition that they will be quarantined for life. Animals landed in Northern Ireland from Great Britain, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Republic of Ireland which have previously been brought to one of those countries from a country outside (other than Northern Ireland) are subject to quarantine unless they have been detained and isolated in quarantine for a period of at least 6 months before being landed in Northern Ireland. The Department is empowered to impose licensing and quarantine restrictions in respect of animals brought from any country in the British Islands if an outbreak of rabies should occur in any of those countries. The Order contains provision for the landing of animals at prescribed ports and airports, the movement of animals to quarantine premises and the movement of animals during the quarantine period. The Department is empowered to license carrying agents and quarantined premises and to control animals passing through Northern Ireland or on board a vessel in a Northern Ireland port. The Department may also deal with animals (including those belonging to the orders of mammals specified in Part III of the Schedule) which have been in contact with animals from abroad. Other provisions relate to the keeping of records in quarantine premises, conditions which may be inserted in licences, and other ancillary matters. With regard to contraventions of .the Order, power is given to the Department to destroy an animal which is landed illegally, or in respect of which there has been a breach of a licence granted under the Order. As an alternative to destruction, the Department may require an animal to be exported or detained and isolated in quarantine. The Order revokes the Importation of Dogs and Cats Order (Northern Ireland) 1961; the Importation of Dogs and Cats (Amendment and Revocation) Order (Northern Ireland) 1970 and the Rabies (Importation of Mammals) Order (Northern Ireland) 1972 with the exception of Article 3 which extends the definition of animal for the purposes of the Diseases of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1958.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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