UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 6 of Livestock and Meat Commission (Levy) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

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

6 Any person who contravenes the requirements of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 6?

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 contravenes the requirements of these Regulations.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Livestock and Meat Commission (Levy) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, 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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
27 February 2003
In force from
28 February 2003
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 replace the Livestock Marketing Commission (Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1969 which impose a levy to be collected by or on behalf of the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (“the Commission”) in respect of sheep and bovine animals slaughtered in or sent out of Northern Ireland. They also supersede the Livestock and Meat Commission (Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 which are defective. The Regulations provide for the imposition of a levy on the owner or occupier of the premises where the animal is slaughtered. In such cases the levy is £1 for a bovine animal and 10p for a sheep (regulation 2). The Regulations increase the levies imposed on the owner of the animal which is slaughtered and the owner of any animal immediately before it is sent out of Northern Ireland. In these cases the levy for a bovine animal has increased from 80p to £1 and for a sheep from 8p to 20p (regulation 2). The Regulations provide that no levy is payable in respect of any animal imported into Northern Ireland and which, within two days from the time it is imported, is sent out of Northern Ireland (regulation 3). The Regulations enable the Commission to authorise the owners/occupiers of licensed slaughterhouses to collect levy from the owners of animals slaughtered in his premises on its behalf and provide for returns to the Commission at the end of each calendar month. They provide that the Livestock and Meat Commission may pay to persons authorised to collect levy on its behalf any reasonable costs incurred in connection with the collection of levies (regulation 4). The Regulations provide powers to: – i stop and inspect livestock and vehicles carrying livestock; ii require the name and address (and authentication of same) of any person who has any livestock in his custody, charge or possession; and iii require any person who has any livestock in his custody, charge or possession to state the name of the owner, if that person is not the owner (regulation 5). The Regulations prescribe offences and penalties applicable where a person is found to be in contravention of the Regulations (regulation 6). The Regulations revoke the Livestock Marketing Commission (Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1969, the Livestock Marketing Commission (Levy) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988 and the Livestock and Meat Commission (Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (regulation 7).

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”; 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