UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 25(1) of Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) 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

1 A person contravening any provision of these Regulations or any notice served under them 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 25(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

the level is stated but no money value is given: this instrument extends outside the United Kingdom, where the standard scale set by s.122(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 does not run.

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
9 March 2005
In force from
4 April 2005
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 re-enact with changes the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (S.R. 2004 No. 325). They implement Council Directive 90/425/EEC (concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market) (O.J. No. L224, 18.8.90, p. 29) and Council Directive 91/496/EEC (laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries) (O.J. No. L268, 24.9.91, p. 56). They continue to include the following provisions: With respect to intra-Community trade, the Regulations make it an offence to export, import or transport for intra-Community trade any animal or animal product to which Directive 90/425/EEC applies except in accordance with that Directive (regulations 5, 6 and 7). The Regulations also set out the procedure and requirements for the registration of dealers in animals and animal products (regulation 8). The requirements and procedures for approval of centres and teams engaging in intra-Community trade in animals and animal products are set out (regulation 9). They give to inspectors the powers of inspection and examination specified in Directive 90/425/EEC, together with the necessary powers of entry (regulations 10 and 22). They place duties on consignees of animals and animal products (regulation 11). The Regulations specify the preconditions for the approval of assembly centres (regulation 12). They provide for procedures to be followed where a consignment constitutes a danger to health or is otherwise illegal (regulation 13). With respect to the importation of animals from third countries, the Regulations prohibit the importation of any animal unless the conditions of Council Directive 91/496/EEC are complied with (regulation 15). At the place of destination, animals for breeding and production may not be released until authorised by an authorised officer of the Department (regulation 18). The Regulations also give powers to the Department to take action in the event of an outbreak of disease in another state (regulation 20) and make provision for the notification of decisions, powers of entry and penalties. Regulation 3(2) implements the requirement in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No. 998/2003 (O.J. No. L146, 13.6.2003, p. 1) that where any person is travelling with more than 5 pets of certain species from certain third countries, those animals shall be subject to the veterinary checks provided for in these Regulations, notwithstanding the general exemption for pets from veterinary checks in regulation 3(1). These Regulations implement Council Directive 2003/50/EC (amending Directive 91/68/EEC as regards reinforcement of controls on movements of ovine and caprine animals) (O.J. No. L169, 8.7.2003, p. 51). The amended provisions of Directive 91/68/EEC relating to health controls for assembly centres, dealers and transporters, in the case of sheep and goats, are reflected in regulations 7 and 12, and Parts II and III of Schedule 2 to these Regulations. Regulation 15(8) has been revised to reflect the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 282/2004 (introducing a document for the declaration of, and veterinary checks, on animals from third countries entering the Community) (O.J. No. L49, 19.2.2004, p. 11), including the requirements relating to the new “common veterinary entry document”, which an importer must use to give notice of his intention to import an animal into the Community from a third country, and which the official veterinarian must use to record his decision on the consignment. Regulation 18 has been revised to reflect the requirements of Article 7(ii) of Commission Decision 2004/212/EC (O.J. No. L73, 11.3.2004, p. 11). Elephants and animals of the order Artiodactyla imported from third countries for certain purposes must be kept at their place of destination for 30 days and may not be released unless authorised by an authorised officer of the Department. The order Artiodactyla includes animals commonly known as pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, camelids and hippopotamuses (this list is not exhaustive). Schedules 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been updated in order to implement Community instruments that have come into force since the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 were made.

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