UK Offence Report

Receipt of animals from another member State

article 27(2) of The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (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

2 It is an offence to remove the original method of identification of an animal originating in another member State in contravention of Article 4(5) of the Council Regulation.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 article 27(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. On these words it is an offence to remove the original method of identification of an animal originating in another member State in contravention of Article 4(5) of the Council Regulation.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2009, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

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

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
11 December 2009
In force from
31 December 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 this Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order revokes and remakes with amendments The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No.535 as amended) makes provision for the administration and enforcement in Northern Ireland of Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 (establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC). Part I of the Order deals with the notification of holdings. Any person who keeps an animal on a holding is required to notify certain particulars to the Department. On receiving a notification, the Department may allocate a holding number and a flock or herd number (Article 3). It also identifies the type of authorisations issued by the Department. Part II of the Order provides that the Department must approve identification devices and sets out some general provisions in relation to the application of identification devices. Part III of the Order requires the application of two means of identification, including one electronic device, to an animal identified or imported on or after 31st December 2009. Part IV of the Order makes provisions for the identification of goats not identified under Part III. Part V of the Order makes provisions for the removal or replacement of identification marks on animals identified under Part III. Part VI of the Order makes provision for the enforcement of Article 5 of the Council Regulation the requirement for every keeper to keep an up-to-date holding register. The Department has adopted the Derogation under Article 5(4) of the Council Regulation for the holding register to be optional if certain conditions are met (Article 18). An annual inventory of animals must be conducted and the findings communicated to the Department (Article 19). Part VII of the Order makes provision for the enforcement of Article 6 of the Council Regulation the requirement for a movement document to accompany an animal whenever it moves between holdings (Article 20). Article 21 imposes certain obligations on market operators. The Department has adopted the derogation under Article 6 of the Regulation which may authorise any person to notify the movement of an animal by electronic means (Article 22). Part VIII of the Order makes provisions for markets (Article 23), slaughterhouses (Article 24), central points of recording (Article 25) and contingency planning for power and equipment failures (Article 26). Part IX makes provision for the identification of animals brought into Northern Ireland from other member States (Article 27), other parts of the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies (Article 28), and from third countries (Article 29 and 30). Part X of the Order contains miscellaneous provisions including the requirements relating to animals which are to be exported (Article 31). Article 34 enables inspectors to prohibit the movement of a flock of sheep or a herd of goats to or from a holding. Articles 35 and 36 relate to the provision of false or misleading information and the alteration of identification marks. Article 37 relates to the export of an animal to Britain or the Republic of Ireland, Article 38 relates to animals moving to and from common grazing, Article 39 relates to the movement of animals from dipping or shearing to the holding of origin and Article 40 contains transitional and saving provisions.

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 0.90.

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