UK Offence Report

Offences: punishment

regulation 29(1) of The Beef and Pig Carcase Classification Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (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

1 A person guilty of an offence under—

a regulation 19(3) (enforcement notices);

b regulation 21 (European beef provisions);

c regulation 22 (European pig provisions);

d regulation 23 (notifications by operators);

e regulation 24 (licences (bovine carcases));

f regulation 25(1) (records); or

g regulation 26 (obstruction etc.), is liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
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; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

28 It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under these Regulations (“P”) to prove that P took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by P or by a person under P’s control.

What would breach regulation 29(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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Beef and Pig Carcase Classification Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

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

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
30 June 2010
In force from
6 August 2010
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 remake the provisions of the Pig Carcase (Grading) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994 (S.R. 1994 No. 384) and the Beef Carcase (Classification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 28). The Regulations enforce Article 42 of, and Annex V to, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 (O.J. No. L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1), which relate to Community scales for the classification of carcases, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008, (O.J. No. L 337, 16.12.2008, p. 3), which sets out further details regarding the implementation of those scales for the classification of carcases. The Regulations relate to the carcases of adult bovine animals and pigs. The Regulations provide for notifications to be made to the Department by operators of slaughterhouses which slaughter bovine animals or pigs (regulation 4). They contain provisions regarding the holding of licences by persons who classify bovine carcases or in relation to classification of such carcases by automated grading equipment (regulations 8, 9 and 10). They require the keeping of certain records (regulations 11 and 16 and Schedules 3 and 4). Part 5 of the Regulations concerns enforcement, and makes provision relating to the powers of authorised officers, enforcement notices and criminal proceedings. Regulations 19(3) and 21 to 26 set out the offences under the Regulations, which are all punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, except for offences under regulation 25(2) (false records and marks). In particular regulations 21 and 22 provide that breach of specified provisions of European Union legislation (set out in Schedules 1 and 2) is an offence. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared for these Regulations, however, they have no impact on the costs of business. Copies may be obtained from Food Policy Branch, Room 131, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SB.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence
0.72 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