UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 26(2) of Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

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

2 Any person guilty of an offence by virtue of regulation 4(2) or (3) or 24(1)(a) or (b) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 26(2)?

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 Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
29 November 1996
In force from
30 November 1996
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 give effect to the provisions of Council Directive 93/119/EC on the protection of animals at time of slaughter or killing (O.J. No. L340, 31.12.93, p. 21). The Regulations apply to the movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter and killing of animals bred or kept for the production of meat, skin, fur or other products, to methods of killing animals for the purpose of disease control and to the killing of surplus chicks and embroys in hatchery waste (regulation 3(1)), subject to exceptions for acts done lawfully under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (regulation 3(2)), sporting events (regulation 3(3)) and wild game (regulation 3(4)). The Regulations— a prohibit persons engaged in the movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter or killing of animals from causing any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering to any animal (regulation 4(1)); b prevent persons from engaging in the movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter or killing of animals without the necessary knowledge and skill (regulation 4(2)); c provide for the licensing of slaughtermen by the Department of Agriculture (“the Department”) (regulation 4(3) and Schedule 1); d require occupiers of slaughterhouses or knackers' yards to ensure (i) that there is a person available who has authority to take whatever action may be necessary to safeguard the welfare of any live animals on the premises (regulation 5), and (ii) that any person who is engaged in activities governed by these Regulations is acquainted with the legislation and welfare codes which are relevant to those activities and, where necessary, is licensed (regulation 6); e provide powers for the Department to make statutory codes of practice (regulation 7); f specify the construction, equipment and maintenance requirements for slaughterhouses and knackers' yards (regulation 8 and Schedule 2); g regulate the movement and lairaging of solipeds, ruminants, pigs, rabbits and birds (regulations 9(a) and 10(a) and Schedule 3); h regulate the restraint of solipeds, ruminants, pigs, rabbits and birds in slaughterhouses and knackers' yards (regulations 9(b) and 10(b) and Schedule 4) and elsewhere (regulation 14(a) and Schedule 4); i regulate the stunning and killing of solipeds, ruminants, pigs, rabbits and birds in slaughterhouses and knackers' yards (regulations 9(c) and 10(c) and Schedule 5) and elsewhere (regulations 14(b) and 15 and Schedule 5); j regulate the bleeding and pithing of solipeds, ruminants, pigs, rabbits and birds in slaughterhouses and knackers' yards (regulation 9(d) and Schedule 6) and elsewhere (regulation 14(c) and Schedule 6); k regulate the killing of pigs or birds by exposure to gas mixtures (regulation 11 and Schedule 7); l specify additional conditions for the slaughter or killing of horses (regulation 12 and Schedule 8); m provide for slaughter or killing for private consumption (regulation 16); n regulate the slaughter or killing of animals for the purpose of disease control (regulation 17 and Schedule 9); o regulate the killing of fox and mink which are farmed for their fur (regulation 18 and Schedule 10); p regulate the killing of surplus chicks and embryos in hatchery waste (regulation 19 and Schedule 11); q require occupiers of premises where birds are kept for slaughter at the place of purchase to ensure that the birds' accommodation gives them enough room and that the birds are fed and watered (regulation 20); r regulate slaughter by a religious method (regulations 21 and 22 and Schedule 12); s specify the powers of authorised persons (regulation 23), create offences and prescribe penalties (regulations 24 to 26) and provide a defence for emergency acts (regulation 27); t make an amendment and repeals (regulations 28 and 29 and Schedule 13).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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