UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 53(2) of Food Safety (Fishery Products and Live Shellfish) (Hygiene) 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 Any person who—

a without reasonable cause, fails to give any person acting on behalf of

a district council in matters arising under Part V any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him in connection with such matters; or

b in purported compliance with any such requirement as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) intentionally or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in

a material particular, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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, 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: intentionally, recklessly.

What would breach regulation 53(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 Food Safety (Fishery Products and Live Shellfish) (Hygiene) 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
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
8 June 1998
In force from
27 July 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 consolidate with amendments the Regulations which were made to give effect to the provisions of Council Directive 91/492/EEC laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs, as adapted for the purposes of the EEA Agreement and as amended, and Council Directive 91/493/EEC laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fishery products, as adapted and as amended, together with a number of Commission Decisions made under these two Council Directives. These Regulations also consolidate with amendments the Regulations which were made to give effect to the provisions of Council Directive 92/48/EEC laying down the minimum hygiene rules applicable to fishery products caught on board certain vessels in accordance with article 3.1.(a)(i) of Council Directive 91/493/EEC, and to the measures set out in paragraph 1 of Section II of Chapter III of the Annex to Council Directive 85/73/EEC on the financing of veterinary inspections and controls covered by Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 90/675/EEC and 91/496/EEC, which is annexed to Council Directive 96/43/EC amending and consolidating Directive 85/73/EEC in order to ensure financing of veterinary inspections and controls on live animals and certain animal products and amending Directives 90/675/EEC and 91/496/EEC (O.J. No. L162, 1.7.96, p. 1). In addition, these Regulations give effect to the amendments made by Council Directive 95/71/EC to the Annex to Directive 91/493/EEC (health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fishery products: see Schedule 3 to these Regulations). The Regulations are made under the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, except for Part V which is made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. Part V implements the amendments made by Council Directive 96/43/EC to which reference is made above. Part I of the Regulations contains general provisions relating to citation, commencement and interpretation (regulations 1 and 2). Part II contains the provisions relating to the production and placing on the market of live shellfish (defined as live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods, and so excluding crustaceans). The Department has the power to designate certain areas as designated production areas for live bivalve molluscs; relaying areas (areas where live bivalve molluscs may be relaid after harvesting to remove contamination) are designated by district councils (regulation 3). The Department may also designate certain areas as prohibited areas for live shellfish production of various kinds (regulation 4), and district councils may make temporary prohibitions concerning layings (regulation 7). Collecting shellfish from areas subject to a relevant prohibition is an offence (regulation 8). The Department may vary and revoke its designations of production and prohibited areas, and district councils may vary and revoke their designations of relaying areas (regulation 5). The Department has an obligation to keep an up-to-date list of designated production and relaying areas (regulation 6). Part II also contains special requirements relating to the harvesting, transporting and relaying of live shellfish (regulation 9), and to the operation of dispatch and purification centres, which need to be approved by the local district council (regulations 10 to 13). There are also special rules for the variation and revocation of approvals of such centres (regulations 14 and 15). Part II also contains special rules for the wrapping, unwrapping, repackaging, storage and transportation of live shellfish (regulations 16 to 18), and detailed obligations relating to the placing on the market of live shellfish (regulation 19). There is, however, an exemption scheme from most of the requirements of this Part which relates to local sales of small quantities of live shellfish (regulation 20). Part III of the Regulations deals with the production and placing on the market of fishery products. There is a registration scheme for fishing vessels on board which shrimps and molluscs are cooked, there are hygiene rules for all fishing vessels, and there are special additional rules for certain longer range vessels (regulations 21 and 22). Factory vessels and establishments on land which are involved in the production of fishery products both have to be approved by the local district council (regulations 23 and 24), and their proprietors have to comply with various specified requirements (regulation 28). Masters of third country factory vessels also have an additional obligation to give the district council at their port of arrival at least 24 hours notice before they arrive (regulation 29). Auction and wholesale markets also have to be registered, again by the district council (regulations 25 and 26), and their proprietors also have to comply with certain specified requirements (regulation 30). Provision is also made for appeals against decisions to refuse to approve or register, or to grant approvals but only subject to conditions (regulations 27), and there are procedures (including appeals procedures) relating to the variation and revocation of approvals and cancellation of market registrations (regulations 31 and 32). Part III also contains a special rule relating to the timing of gutting of fishery products (regulation 33), and rules relating to the packaging, storage and transportation of fishery products (regulations 34 and 35). There are also detailed obligations relating to the placing on the market of all types of fishery products (regulation 36), with special additional rules relating to the placing on the market of aquaculture products (regulation 37), processed shellfish (regulation 38) and live fish and other aquatic animals (regulation 39). There is, however, a prohibition on selling or supplying in the course of business certain poisonous fishery products (regulation 40). As with live shellfish, there is an exemption scheme from most of the requirements of this Part which relates essentially to local sales of small quantities of products (regulation 41). Part IV of the Regulations deals with the import conditions for fishery products and live shellfish (regulations 42 to 45), but there is an exemption from this Part for certain private consignments (regulation 46). Part V deals with the inspection charges for third country direct landings (products landed from third country vessels which have or had not been on land prior to their importation into the European Community). The charge is paid by the first purchaser to the vendor, and an equivalent amount is then passed by the vendor to the district council (regulations 48 and 49). Some reductions are available in relation to part of this charge where checks are facilitated by specified factors (regulation 50). The vendor is also under an obligation to make a written return in respect of his weekly sales (regulation 51). Part VI contains more general provisions. These include provisions relating to the health control responsibilities of the Department and district councils (regulation 52), enforcement responsibilities (regulations 54 and 56), certification of shellfish and fishery products as failing to comply with food safety requirements (regulation 57), amendments to other Regulations (regulation 58), and revocations (regulation 59). Regulation 59 also contains a transitional provision.

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”; 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