UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 12 of Marketing of Vegetable Plant Material 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

12 A person who without reasonable excuse, proof of which shall be on him, contravenes any provision of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

12 A person who without reasonable excuse, proof of which shall be on him, contravenes any provision of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 12?

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 without reasonable excuse, proof of which shall be on him, contravenes any provision of these Regulations.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Marketing of Vegetable Plant Material Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
2 November 1995
In force from
11 December 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.

The Regulations implement as respects Northern Ireland Council Directive 92/33/EEC (O.J. No. L.157, 10.6.92, p. 1) and Commission Directives 93/61/EEC (O.J. No. L.250, 7.10.93, p. 19) and 93/62/EEC (OJ. No. L.250, 7.10.93, p. 29) on the marketing of vegetable propagating and planting material other than seed within the European Community. The Regulations set quality standards to be met by certain genera and species of plant material when marketed and prescribe conditions to be satisfied by suppliers of plant material, subject to an exemption for small producers all of whose production and sales of plant material are intended for final use by persons on the local market who are not professionally involved in plant production (regulation 4). Suppliers may not market plant material unless it is substantially free on visual inspection from harmful organisms and diseases and unless it satisfies minimum quality requirements; and producers are required to take certain measures if such organisms and diseases are found (regulations 5 and 6). Additional quality requirements are prescribed in respect of the marketing of bulbs of shallots and garlic by producers (regulation 7). When marketed plant material must be accompanied by a supplier’s document or, when marketed to non-professional final consumers, by appropriate product information (regulation 8 and Schedule 2). The Regulations require suppliers who are neither producers nor engaged only in the marketing of small quantities of plant material to non-professional final consumers to keep records on the buying, selling or delivery of plant material. Suppliers (including producers) other than those engaged in the marketing of plant material to non-professional final consumers are also required to keep records on any mixing of plant material of different origins. Producers must in addition keep records on occurrences of harmful organisms (regulation 9). Producers who market plant material must be accredited by the Department of Agriculture. Accreditation is conditional on the maintenance of production practices in accordance with requirements established by the Regulations and on the keeping of prescribed records (regulation 10 and Schedule 3). An inspector may enter the premises of a supplier to ensure compliance with these Regulations and may by notice prohibit the marketing or movement of unsatisfactory plant material (regulation 11). Regulation 12 relates to offences and penalties.

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.

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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