UK Offence Report

Information

regulation 5(2) of The Meat (Official Controls Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

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

2 Any person who—

a in purported compliance with paragraph (1), knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within

a reasonable time with

a demand made under that paragraph, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, 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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

which is false or misleading in a material particular; or b without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand made under that paragraph, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Meat (Official Controls Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005.
  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
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
8 December 2005
In force from
1 January 2006
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 the Meat (Hygiene, Inspection and Examination for Residues) (Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (S.R. 1995 No. 431 as amended by 1999 c. 28 and S.R. 2000 No. 78). The Meat (Hygiene, Inspection and Examination for Residues) (Charges) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 implemented in relation to Northern Ireland the provisions concerning the level of fees to be charged for health inspections and controls of meat contained in Council Directive 85/73/EEC on the financing of health inspections and controls of fresh meat and poultrymeat under certain Council Directives. An amended and consolidated text of Council Directive 85/73/EEC is annexed to Council Directive 96/43/EC at OJ No. L62, 1.7.96, p.1. In the light of reforms to the Community regime governing food hygiene that take effect on 1st January 2006, Directive 2004/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L157, 30.4.2004, p.33; the revised text of Directive 2004/41/EC is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L195, 2.6.2004, p.12) modifies Council Directive 85/73/EEC with effect from 1st January 2006 so that from that date it requires fees to be collected for official controls on meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and wild game meat under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 of the European Parliament of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p.206; the revised text of Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L226, 25.6.2004, p.83). In the light of the modification to Council Directive 85/73/EEC described in paragraph 3, these Regulations implement the provisions of that Directive that now require fees to be collected for inspections of and controls on meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and wild game meat under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004. These Regulations— require the Agency to notify the operator of each slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment and cutting plant in which official controls have been exercised of the official controls charge that has arisen in relation to those officials controls (the terms “slaughterhouse”, “game-handling establishment”, “cutting plant”, “official controls” and “official controls charge” are all defined in regulation 2) (regulation 3); provide that any official controls charge so notified is payable by the operator to the Agency on demand (regulation 3); allow the Agency to refuse to exercise any further official controls at given premises where, despite a Court order requiring the operator of the premises to pay the official controls charge for which he is liable, he fails to comply with the order (regulation 4); require persons— to supply the Agency on demand with such information as it may reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the official controls charge or notifying the operator of it, and to supply the Agency on demand with such evidence as it may reasonably require to verify that information (regulation 5); provide that a person who— in response to a demand for information or evidence knowingly or recklessly furnishes false or misleading information, or without reasonable excuse fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand for information or evidence, is guilty of an offence (regulation 5). Schedule 2 to these Regulations sets out how the official controls charge is to be calculated.

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