UK Offence Report

Enforcement of byelaws

regulation 66(3)(a) of The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995

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

a commits an offence against any byelaw made under Article 19 or 21 of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, as they are applied by virtue of regulations 23 and 31; or

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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.

What would breach regulation 66(3)(a)?

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 Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
Status not determined
Made
5 October 1995
In force from
13 November 1995
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision for implementing Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Part I contains introductory provisions. Part II provides for the conservation of natural habitats and habitats of species, and in particular— regulations 6 to 12 make provision for the selection, registration and notification of sites to be protected under the Directive (“European sites”); regulations 13 and 14 make provision for management agreements for European sites; regulations 15 to 18 make provision in respect of European sites for the control of damaging operations; regulations 19 to 22 make provision for the payment of compensation in relation to the control of damaging operations on European sites; regulations 23 to 26 make provision for the making of byelaws for European sites and for the payment of compensation for the effect of byelaws; regulation 27 makes provision for the acquisition of European sites; regulations 28 to 31 make special provision for the protection of European marine sites; and regulation 32 requires the Department, where it thinks necessary, to encourage the management of features of landscape which are important to wild fauna and flora. Part III provides for the protection of certain wild animals and plants and in particular— regulation 34 makes it an offence, subject to certain exceptions, deliberately to capture, kill or disturb those animals or to trade in them; and regulation 38 makes it an offence, subject to certain exceptions, to pick, collect, cut, uproot or destroy those plants or to trade in them. Part IV makes provision for the adaptation of planning and certain other controls for the protection of European sites; in particular— regulations 43, 44 and 49 require the effect on a European site to be considered before a grant of planning permission and, subject to certain exceptions, restrict the grant of planning permission where the integrity of a European site would be adversely affected; regulations 45, 46 and 50 to 53 require that planning permissions granted before the date on which the site becomes a European site (or if later, the commencement of these Regulations) shall be reviewed and in certain circumstances revoked, where the integrity of the site would be adversely affected; regulation 54 limits claims for compensation under the Land Development Values (Compensation) Act (NI) 1965 where the Department decides not to confirm provisional orders under Article 38 (revocation or modification of planning permission) or Article 39 (discontinuance of a use, etc.) of the Planning (NI) Order 1991. Compensation is limited to loss or damage attributable to the temporary modification, suspension or imposition of conditions; equivalent provision for the requirement to consider the effect on a European site and for the review of consents is made in relation to roads under the Roads (NI) Order 1993 (regulation 62), waste disposal licences etc., under the Pollution Control and Local Government (NI) Order 1978 (regulation 63), and discharge consents under the Water Act (NI) 1972 (regulation 64). Regulations 55 to 60 make special provisions as respects general development orders, special development orders, simplified planning zones and enterprise zones. Part V contains provisions of a supplemental nature. Copies of Council Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC are available from the Commission of the European Communities, Windsor House, 9–15 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7EG.

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 0.92.

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