Market operators

Q: Is regulation 11(2) of Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 a strict liability offence?

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.

regulation 11(2) of Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Status not determined
Strict liability
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlife

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 If the operator of any market accepts into the market any cattle which fail to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), he 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: failing to do something the instrument requires
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 11(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.

Not doing what the provision requires under the Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, by the time it requires it to be done.
Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Not determined
Maximum fine: Not determined
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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.

Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017
Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 10 August 1998
In force from: 1 October 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

These Regulations implement in part: Title 1 of Council Regulation 820/97/EC establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (O.J. No. L117, 7.5.97, p. 1); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2628/97 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards transitional provisions for the start-up period of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L354, 30.12.97, p. 17); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2629/97 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards eartags, holding registers and passports in the framework of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L354, 30.12.97, p. 19); and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 494/98 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards the application of minimum administrative sanctions in the framework of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L60, 28.2.98, p. 78). Part I of the Regulations contains certain introductory provisions. Part II of the Regulations provides for the enforcement of Article 4 of Regulation 820/97/EC relating to double eartagging of cattle (regulation 3). They specify the form of eartag to be used (regulation 4), prohibit movement from a holding of an animal which is not properly tagged (regulation 5) and make provision for the removal and replacement of eartags (regulation 6). The Regulations also prohibit the alteration of eartags (regulation 7). They provide for tagging in the case of intra-Community trade and imports from third countries (regulations 8 and 9). They contain transitional provisions (regulation 10), place certain duties on market and slaughterhouse operators (regulations 11 and 12) and make provision for changes of eartag numbers (regulation 13). Part III of the Regulations deals with powers of inspectors and penalties. Breach of regulation 16 (obstruction) is punishable by a fine of level 5 on the standard scale or three months imprisonment for obstruction. For other offences under Part II or III of the Regulations the penalty is: on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both; on conviction on indictment, a fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Transitional provisions relating to eartagsregulation 10(4)
Slaughterhousesregulation 12(7)
Change of eartag numberregulation 13(2)
Powers of an officer of the Departmentregulation 15(3)
Obstructionregulation 16(1)
Enforcement of Article 4 of the Council Regulationregulation 3(5)
Movement from a holdingregulation 5(1)
Replacement eartagsregulation 6(1)
Replacement eartagsregulation 6(7)
Alteration of eartagsregulation 7
Intra-Community traderegulation 8(2)
Imports from third countriesregulation 9(1)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlifeOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1998