UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 5(1) of Sheep and Goats (Spongiform Encephalopathy) 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

1 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him—

a defaces, obliterates or removes any mark applied to any sheep or goat or carcase under regulation 3(2)(c);

b contravenes regulation 3(3) or 4(1); or

c knowingly causes or permits any such contravention, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

1 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a defaces, obliterates or removes any mark applied to any sheep or goat or carcase under regulation 3(2)(c); b contravenes regulation 3(3) or 4(1); or c knowingly causes or permits any such contravention, shall be guilty of a

What would breach regulation 5(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 Sheep and Goats (Spongiform Encephalopathy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, 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
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
21 October 1998
In force from
7 December 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 give effect in part to Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of Commission Decision 98/272/EEC (O.J. No. L122, 24.4.98, p. 59) on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in sheep and goats. Regulation 3 provides for the investigation of any transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in sheep, goats or their carcases, the examination and testing of sheep, goats or their carcases, and the taking of samples from them, for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. It also provides for the marking of sheep, goats or their carcases for this purpose. Regulation 3 requires that an occupier of premises or his employees or a person in charge or in possession of sheep, goats or their carcases co-operate with these investigations. It also provides rights of entry to premises for veterinary inspectors and officers of the Department of Agriculture. Regulation 4 makes provision for offences in relation to obstruction and the furnishing of false or misleading information and regulation 5 for other offences and penalties.

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