UK Offence Report

Approvals for research and development

regulation 9(7) of Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (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

7 Any person who contravenes or causes or permits any person to contravene –

a paragraph (1); or

b any requirement or condition of an approval granted under this regulation, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

1 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence. 2 Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), a person is to be taken to have established the defence provided by that paragraph if he pr

What would breach regulation 9(7)?

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 or causes or permits any person to contravene – a paragraph (1); or b any requirement or condition of an approval granted under this regulation.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown 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
19 March 2004
In force from
5 May 2004
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 the Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (S.R. 1995 No. 371). The Regulations, which consolidate the 1995 Regulations (as amended) with modifications, continue to implement as respects Northern Ireland Council Directive 91/414/EEC (O.J. No. L230, 19.8.91, p. 1 to be read with corrigenda published in O.J. No. L170, 25.6.92, p. 40) concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (“the 1991 Directive”). The Regulations continue to implement the Directives amending the 1991 Directive, up to and including Commission Directive 2002/81/EC and also implement Commission Directives 2003/5/EC, 2003/23/EC, 2003/68/EC, 2003/31/EC, 2003/79/EC, 2003/84/EC, 2003/39/EC, 2003/70/EC, 2003/81/EC and 2003/82/EC which amend the 1991 Directive and which were not covered by the 1995 Regulations – see Schedule 1. Directives 91/414/EEC and 93/71/EEC were extended to the European Economic Area (“the EEA”) by Decision No. 7/94 of the EEA Joint Committee (O.J. No. L160, 28.6.94, p.1), which amended the European Economic Area Agreement (see Decision 94/1 ECSC, EEC; O.J. No. L1, 3.1.94, p. 1). The Directive (as extended to the EEA) establishes an authorisation system whereby plant protection products (defined in the Directive as active substances and preparations containing one or more active substances intended inter alia to protect plants against harmful organisms) may not be placed on the market and used in the territory of an EEA State unless they have been authorised under the Directive by that EEA State (or, subject to qualifications, by another EEA State). The Directive (as read with adaptations set out in Decision No. 7/94 of the EEA Joint Committee) establishes uniform rules on the conditions and procedures for authorisation, including rules on the mutual recognition of authorisations between EEA States. The purpose of the system is to ensure that wherever they are placed on the market and used within the EEA plant protection products are effective without causing harm to human or animal health and without adversely affecting plants and ground water or the environment in general. Before a plant protection product can receive a standard authorisation all its active substances must be included in Annex I to the Directive although the Directive allows provisional authorisation of a product in advance of such inclusion. The inclusion of active substances which were on the market of EEA States on or before 26th July 1993 (or, as far as Austria, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Sweden are concerned, on or before 1st July 1994) are subject to a rolling review programme operated by the European Commission in conjunction with the member States of the European Community, although in transitional provisions set out in the Directive EEA States are permitted to authorise the placing on the market of products containing such substances until they have been reviewed; whereas inclusion of a new active substance in Annex I requires an application by the person intending to place it on the market. The Directive also permits authorisations for short periods in the event of emergency and authorisations for releasing plant protection products into the environment for trial purposes. Authorisations are for fixed periods and in the case of standard authorisations they may be renewed on expiry. They may also be modified, or their range of application may be extended, in certain circumstances. Authorisations are subject to special requirements and conditions determined by the EEA State granting the authorisation, the breach of which would occasion automatic revocation. Authorisations carry a general requirement to notify the authorising EEA State of new information on the potentially dangerous effects of the authorised plant protection product or of residues of its active substances. The Directive additionally provides certain data protection and confidentiality safeguards for holders of authorisations (whilst providing in certain circumstances for the release of information to other applicants and for the inspection of information by the public) and makes provision for the sharing of information between applicants and holders of previous authorisations of the same plant protection products with a view to limiting the duplication of tests on vertebrate animals. In addition, it prescribes requirements for labelling and packaging with which plant protection products must comply if they are to be placed on the market in the territory of an EEA State. The Regulations continue to implement the provisions of the Directive described above by providing for the authorisation system in Northern Ireland under the operation of the Department. In the Regulations authorisations are described as approvals. The Regulations impose a prohibition on the placing on the market and use of plant protection products unless they have been approved by the Department under the Regulations and are placed on the market and used in accordance with any conditions or requirements specified in their approval (regulation 3(1) and (2)). Persons intending to place new active substances on the market must apply to the Department for such substances to be included in Annex I (regulation 3(3) and 4(1)). Applications for standard, provisional and emergency approvals of plant protection products and applications for approval of plant protection products already authorised under the Directive for use in another EEA State are made to the Department by the persons responsible for first placing the products on the market in Northern Ireland (regulations 5 to 8, 11 and 13). Similarly, applications for approvals for trial purposes are made to the Department (regulation 9). The provisions of the Directive concerning extensions of the range of application of approved plant protection products and the provisions requiring the notification of potentially dangerous effects of approved plant protection products are respectively incorporated in regulations 10 and 14. The data protection, information-sharing and confidentiality provisions of the Directive are set out in regulations 15, 16 and 17 and Schedule 2 and the provisions concerning the labelling and packaging of plant protection products are set out in regulations 18 and 19 and Schedule 3. The Regulations confer enforcement powers on officers (who for specified purposes may be officers of local authorities) authorised by any Northern Ireland Department, including powers to seize and dispose of plant protection products in the event of a breach of a prohibition, requirement or condition imposed by or under the Regulations, to enter on land and to effect certain other controls (regulations 20 and 24). The Regulations make such breaches a criminal offence (see regulations 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18 and 19), create certain other types of offence (regulation 21) and prescribe penalties and defences (regulations 22 and 23). The transitional and consequential provisions (including those specifying the extent to which the Control of Pesticides Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (S.R. 1987 No. 414) will continue to apply) are contained in regulations 26 and 27 and Schedule 4. Instruments which are revoked are listed in regulation 28. A list of competent authorities of the member States of the European Community, to whom certain information and documents are required under the Regulations to be forwarded, can be obtained from the Pesticides Safety Directorate, Room 308, Mallard House, Kings Pool, 3 Peasholme Green, York YO1 2PX or via the website www.pesticides.gov.uk.

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”
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