UK Offence Report

2 A person who, for the purpose of procuring the issue of a phytosanitary certificate or any approval under…

regulation 6(2) of The Potatoes Originating in Egypt Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (revoked)

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 A person who, for the purpose of procuring the issue of

a phytosanitary certificate or any approval under regulation 4(1)—

a knowingly or recklessly makes

a false statement; or

b intentionally fails to disclose any material particular, shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 6(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Potatoes Originating in Egypt Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

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
16 March 1998
In force from
17 March 1998
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 in Northern Ireland, Commission Decision 96/301/EC authorizing member States temporarily to take additional measures against the dissemination of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as regards Egypt (O.J. No. L.115, 9.5.96, p. 47) as amended by the Commission Decision of 28th January 1998 authorising member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Pseudomonas solanacearum (Smith) Smith as regards Egypt (O.J. No. L.25, 31.1.98, p. 101). The Regulations prohibit the landing of potatoes originating in Egypt unless those potatoes are accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 1 of the Annex to the Commission Decision of 28th January 1998 (regulation 3). The Regulations also require processing of potatoes originating in Egypt to be carried out only in plants approved for the purpose by the Department (regulation 4). The Regulations provide that an inspector who has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person has or will have in his possession potatoes originating in Egypt may exercise the powers conferred by Articles 22 to 25 of the Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 1993 in respect of such potatoes (regulation 5). A person who contravenes or fails to comply with regulation 3 (imports) or 4 (processing) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 (regulation 6).

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 0.92.

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