UK Offence Report

Confirmed designation

regulation 31(3) of The Aquatic Animal Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

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 It is an offence for

a person, except under, and in accordance with the conditions of,

a licence granted by the Department, to—

a move any aquatic animal or aquaculture product into, out of or within

a confirmed designation area; or

b dispose of any aquatic animal (whether alive or dead) which comes from

a confirmed designation area.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 31(3)?

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 Aquatic Animal Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 2009
In force from
Not determined
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 implement in respect of Northern Ireland Council Directive 2006/88/EC (OJ No. L 328, 24.11.2006, p.14) on animal health requirements for aquaculture animals and products thereof and on the prevention and control of certain diseases in aquatic animals. They also implement Commission Regulation (EC) No 1251/2008 (OJ No. L 337, 16.12.2008, p.41) as regards conditions and certification requirements for the placing on the market and import into the Community of aquaculture animals and products thereof and laying down a list of vector species. These Regulations also repeal the Diseases of Fish Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 and revoke the Fish Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (as amended) and the Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (as amended). Part 1 of these Regulations contains introductory provisions. Regulation 3 sets out the scope of the Regulations. Part 2 of these Regulations requires aquaculture production businesses and certain processing establishments to be authorised by the Department (regulation 6). However, put and take fisheries and non-commercial installations are only required to be registered with the Department (regulation 13). Although these Regulations generally come into operation on 27th March 2009, regulation 6(1) which makes it an offence to operate an aquaculture production business or a processing establishment without the required authorisation and regulation 13(1), which makes it an offence to operate a put and take fishery or non-commercial installation without the required registration, will come into operation on 1st August 2009. Part 3 imposes health requirements in relation to the placing on the market of aquaculture animals and products and certain other aquatic animals. One of the principal mechanisms for ensuring that health standards are met is the requirement for aquaculture animals to be accompanied by an animal health certificate when they are introduced into Northern Ireland or any zone or compartment within Northern Ireland (regulation 20). This Part also imposes disease prevention requirements in respect of the transport of such animals (regulations 22 and 23), and imposes requirements in relation to quarantine as provided for under Commission Decision 2008/949/EC (regulation 25). Part 4 establishes a system for the notification and control of disease outbreaks in aquatic animals. The Department is required to designate an area where a listed or emerging disease is suspected (regulation 27) and to make a confirmed designation (regulation 31) where such a disease is confirmed. Inspectors are given powers to require others to take steps necessary to eradicate or prevent the spread of disease to other aquatic animals (regulations 29 and 33). Part 5 gives enforcement powers to inspectors and allows the service of an enforcement notice (regulation 39) and a prohibition notice (regulation 40). Appeals may be made against such notices or in relation to an authorisation granted under Part 2 (regulation 44). Part 6 makes provision for offences and penalties. A person found guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment to an unlimited fine (regulation 49). Part 7 establishes the Department’s role in declaring disease free zones or compartments in Northern Ireland and maintaining a register of these areas (regulations 51 and 52). This Part also specifies a 4 year time period for retention of records (regulation 54) and includes a transitional provision in respect of applications for authorisation from persons who currently hold a Fish Culture Licence under section 11 of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 (regulation 58).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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