UK Offence Report

Application of various provisions of the 1991 Order

article 5(2) of Food (Star Anise from Third Countries) (Emergency Control) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 (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

3 The authorised officer may either—

a give notice to the person in charge of the Star Anise concerned that, until the notice is withdrawn, the Star Anise or any specified quantity of it—

i is not to be used for human consumption, and

ii either is not to be removed or is not to be removed except to some place specified in the notice; or

b seize the Star Anise and remove it in order to have it dealt with by

a justice of the peace; and any person who knowingly contravenes the requirements of

a notice under sub-paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence and 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 (knowingly).

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.

What would breach article 5(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person knowingly contravenes the requirements of a notice under sub-paragraph (a).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Food (Star Anise from Third Countries) (Emergency Control) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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
6 March 2002
In force from
7 March 2002
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 Order.) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order is made under Article 12 of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 in consequence of it appearing to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety that the importation of certain Star Anise consigned from countries which are not member States of the European Community may involve imminent risk of injury to health. The Order also implements Commission Decision 2002/75/EC laying down special conditions on the import from third countries of Star Anise (O.J. No. L33, 2.2.2002, p. 31). The Order— a prohibits the importation of “Star Anise for human consumption” consigned from countries which are not member States of the European Community except where it is accompanied by health certificates completed by the competent authority of the exporting third country and a report on the results of official sampling and analysis undertaken in that country, the importation takes place only through specified points of entry and the consignment is identified with a code corresponding with that specified on the health certificate and in the sampling and analysis results (Articles 2 and 3(1)); b prohibits the importation of “Japanese Star Anise” intended for human consumption or which is not labelled to the effect that it is unfit for such use (Articles 2 and 3(2)); c specifies the enforcement authority (Article 4); and d applies, with modifications, provisions of the 1991 Order (Article 5).

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