UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 13(1) of Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

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

1 If— a a person (other than a district council acting as an approval authority or enforcement authority) contravenes any provision of these Regulations; or b the occupier of any premises fails to take all reasonable steps to secure the compliance by any person employed by him or any person admitted to those premises with any provision of these Regulations, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— i on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; or ii on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What a person personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: fails to take all reasonable steps.

What would breach regulation 13(1)?

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 Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

the level is stated but no money value is given: this instrument extends outside the United Kingdom, where the standard scale set by s.122(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 does not run.

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
13 November 1997
In force from
8 December 1997
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 implement Council Directive 94/65/EC (O.J. No. L.368, 31.12.94, p.10) laying down the requirements for the production and placing on the market of minced meat and meat preparations. The Regulations do not apply to premises producing or storing minced meat or meat preparations for direct sale from those premises to the final consumer, to mechanically recovered meat or to the production or sale of minced meat to be used to produce sausage meat which, in turn, will be used in a meat product (regulation 3). The Regulations— a require premises producing minced meat or meat preparations intended for consignment or sale for consignment to be approved under and comply with the Regulations (regulation 4); b provide for the revocation of approvals (regulation 5); c provide a right of appeal (regulation 6); d specify one set of conditions for the consignment, or sale for consignment, of minced meat to an EEA State or to a third country and another set for its sale for consumption in the United Kingdom (regulation 7); e specify one set of conditions for the consignment, or sale for consignment, of meat preparations to an EEA State or to a third country and another set for their sale for consumption in the United Kingdom (regulation 8); f specify requirements regarding the transportation of minced meat and meat preparations (regulation 9); g require the provision of information to the Department by district councils regarding the execution of their duties (regulation 10); h specify duties of an occupier of premises (regulation 11); i define “enforcement authority” and make enforcement authorities responsible for the supervision of premises and for the enforcement and execution of the Regulations (regulation 12); j create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 13); k apply specified provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 14); l make provision for minced meat and meat preparations produced or stored in Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (regulation 15); and m amend specified Regulations (regulation 16).

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