UK Offence Report

Amendment to the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

regulation 2(3) of The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (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

Arrangements in respect of the body of

a bovine animal for the purpose of monitoring under Article

6 of the Community TSE Regulation 1A

1 For the purpose of monitoring under Article

6 of the Community TSE Regulation,

a person who has in their possession or under their control the body of

a bovine animal that must be tested for BSE in accordance with point 3(1) of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to that Regulation as read with Commission Decision 2009/719/EC must within

24 hours, unless directed otherwise by the Department, identify an approved TSE sampling site that will carry out sampling for the test and either—

a make arrangements with the operator of the sampling site to have it collected and detain the body of the bovine animal until it has been collected; or

b agree with the operator of the sampling site that it can be taken to that site and ensure it’s arrival at the site within the timeframe stipulated by the operator in accordance with the official document relating to the site approved by the Department under paragraph 4A, and failure to do so is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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

th paragraph 1(1)(a), and failure to do so is an offence. 2 This paragraph does not apply in relation to goats slaughtered for human consumption or killed in accordance with Schedule 4. Arrangements in respect of the body of a bovine animal for the purpose of monitoring under Article 6 of the Community TSE Regulation 1A 1 For the purpose of monito

What would breach regulation 2(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
16 October 2009
In force from
9 November 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 amend the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. 2008 No.508) which enforce Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (O.J. No. L 147, 31.5.2001, p.1) as amended. Schedule 2 (TSE monitoring) is amended to place a duty on those in possession of a body of a bovine animal required for TSE testing to identify an approved TSE sampling site that will carry out brain stem sampling. They must make an arrangement with the operator of the site to have the bovine animal body collected and detain it until it has been collected. Alternatively they may, by prior agreement with the operator of the site, take the bovine animal body to that site within agreed timeframes. The operator of the approved TSE sampling site with whom an arrangement has been made for collection of a body of a bovine animal required for TSE testing must ensure that it is collected and delivered to the site in accordance with the official document relating to the site and must take a sample of brainstem material from it. Failure to comply with these provisions is an offence. Schedule 2 is also amended to create new offences of destroying a carcase to which these provisions apply before it has been sampled and of failing to comply with point 6(3) of Chapter A of Annex III of Regulation (EC) 999/2001. Provision is also made for the approval of TSE sampling sites by the Department. Offences are punishable in accordance with regulation 18 of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 by— a on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or imprisonment for a term of three months or both; or b on conviction on indictment, a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.88 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