UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 10(1) of The Food Irradiation 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

1 Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of these Regulations or, for the purposes of these Regulations, makes any false statement or uses any document containing

a false statement either recklessly or knowing it to be false, is guilty of an offence and is liable—

a on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding six months or both; and

b on conviction on indictment to

a fine or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowing it to be, recklessly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: recklessly, knowing it to be.

What would breach regulation 10(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Food Irradiation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
29 June 2009
In force from
31 July 2009
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 restrict the treatment of food with ionising radiation (irradiation) and the importation, storage and transport for the purpose of sale, and sale, of irradiated food. The Regulations revoke and re-enact the rules specified in paragraph 4(k) of this Explanatory Note with modifications which give complete effect to the provisions specified in paragraph 3. The Regulations give effect to the provisions of— Directive 1999/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation (OJ No.L66, 13.3.99, p.16); Directive 1999/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a Community list of foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation (OJ No. L66, 13.3.99, p.24); Commission Decision 2002/840/EC adopting the list of approved facilities in third countries for the irradiation of foods (OJ No. L287, 25.10.2002, p.40); Commission List of 3 September 2004 of approved facilities for the treatment of foods and food ingredients with ionising radiation in the Member States; Commission Decision 2004/691/EC amending Decision 2002/840/EC adopting the list of approved facilities in third countries for the irradiation of food (OJ No. L314, 13.10.2004, p.14); and Commission Decision 2007/802/EC amending Decision 2002/840 as regards the list of approved facilities in third countries for the irradiation of foods (OJ No. L323, 8.12.87, p.40). As well as making minor and drafting changes, the Regulations— define “properly irradiated food” (regulation 3(2) and Schedule 1); prohibit the irradiation of food unless it is wholesome and is irradiated in accordance with the Regulations and with a licence (regulation 4(1); provide for the issue and contents of licences, the requirements to be observed by a licensee, and the variation, cancellation or suspension of licences (regulation 4(2) and Schedule 2); restrict the importation of irradiated food (regulation 5); restrict its storage or transport (regulation 6); restrict its sale (regulation 7); require the documents which accompany irradiated food to contain certain information (regulation 8); provide for their enforcement (regulation 9); create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 10); apply various provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 11); and revoke the Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (S.R. 1992 No. 172) and regulations 2 to 12 of the Food Irradiation Provisions Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 303).

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