UK Offence Report

1 Subject to paragraph 7(3) and (4) of Schedule 6, a person who without lawful authority or excuse, proof of…

regulation 13(1) of Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (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 Subject to paragraph 7(3) and (4) of Schedule 6,

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

a contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of these Regulations;

b fails to comply with

a notice served under regulation

11 within the time specified in the notice;

c makes any entry in

a record, or gives any information for the purposes of these Regulations which he knows to be false in any material particular or, for those purposes, recklessly makes

a statement or gives any information which is false in any material particular; or

d causes or permits any of the above, shall be guilty of an offence under section 2(1) of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (recklessly).

“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: recklessly; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

bject to paragraph 7(3) and (4) of Schedule 6, a person who without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of these Regulations; b fails to comply with a notice served under regulation 11 within the time specified in the notice; c makes any entry in a record, or gives any informa

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.
  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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 2(1) of the Welfare of Animals Act.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
18 September 2000
In force from
16 October 2000
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 revoke and replace with amendments the Welfare of Livestock Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 and the Welfare of Livestock (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998. They implement as respects Northern Ireland— Council Directive 88/166/EEC laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens kept in battery cages (O.J. No. L74, 19.3.88, p. 83); Council Directive 91/629/EEC laying down minimum standards for the protection of calves (O.J. No. L340, 11.12.91, p. 28), as amended by Council Directive 97/2/EC (O.J. No. L25, 28.1.97, p. 24) and Commission Decision 97/182/EC (O.J. No. L76, 24.2.97, p. 30); Council Directive 91/630/EEC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs (O.J. No. L340, 11.12.91, p. 33); and Council Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (O.J. No. L221, 8.8.98, p. 23). The Regulations (and the Community legislation which they implement) reflect the obligations contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes of 10th March 1976, as read with the Protocol of Amendment to the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes of 6th February 1992 (both may be purchased from the Stationery Office Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD). The Regulations apply to all animals kept for farming purposes (subject to certain limited exceptions) (regulation 2(4)). Regulation 3(1) lays down the general principle that owners and keepers of animals kept for farming purposes must take reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of animals in their care and to prevent them any unnecessary pain, suffering or injury. This principle applies to all animals (including fish, reptiles and amphibians). The Regulations also provide for general requirements which apply in the case of all farmed animals (other than fish, reptiles and amphibians) (regulation 3(2) and Schedule 1) and for sets of specific additional requirements which apply in the cases of laying hens (regulation 4 and Schedule 2), poultry other than laying hens (regulation 5 and Schedule 3), calves (regulation 6 and Schedule 4), cattle (regulation 7 and Schedule 5), pigs (regulation 8 and Schedule 6) and rabbits (regulation 9 and Schedule 7). Regulation 10 contains provision to ensure that those in charge of animals have access to copies of the relevant statutory welfare codes and are acquainted with those codes. Regulation 11 provides for the service of enforcement notices requiring action to be taken to deal with any breach of the Regulations and regulation 12 provides for a power of entry for persons authorised by the European Commission for the purpose of enforcing Community legislation. Under regulation 13(1), any contravention of the Regulations is an offence against section 2(1) of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. A person guilty of an offence under that section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (currently, £2,500) or both. Regulation 14 contains provision for the Department to issue or amend Statutory welfare codes to ensure compliance on the part of owners and keepers of animals with the requirements of the relevant Community legislation.

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”; c10_offence_under_parent_act
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