UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 20(1) of The Seeds (Variety Lists) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

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 contravening or failing to comply with any provision of regulation 12,

19 or 21(1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

a on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or to both;

b on conviction on indictment, to

a fine or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or to 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (intentionally) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses intentionally; which element that governs was not determined.

What would breach regulation 20(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Seeds (Variety Lists) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 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
4 December 2020
In force from
31 December 2020
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, give effect, in Northern Ireland, to Council Directives 2002/53/EC (OJ No L 193, 20.07.2002, p. 1) on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species and those elements of Council Directive 2002/55/EC (OJ No L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 33) on the marketing of vegetable seed which require member States to establish national lists of vegetable varieties. Certain requirements of Council Directive 98/95/EC have not been transposed in full in these Regulations where there is existing provision in the Genetically Modified Organisms (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/1714 (N.I.19)). The Order makes general provision for preventing damage to the environment from the release of genetically modified organisms. Relevant provisions include carrying out environmental risk assessments for genetically modified plant varieties, imposition of conditions appropriate for their cultivation and prohibition of their use where their cultivation could be harmful. Regulation 3 defines expressions used in these Regulations and provides that expressions in the Regulations not so defined and which appear in Council Directives 2002/53/EC and 2002/55/EC have the same meaning in the Regulations as they have in those directives. Regulation 4 makes provision in relation to NI Variety Lists of plant varieties prepared and published in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette Regulation 5 provides for applications in relation to NI Variety Lists, regulation 6 provides for acceptance of plant varieties. Regulation 7 provides for amateur vegetable varieties and regulation 8 makes provision for the naming of plant varieties. The Department must be satisfied of the matters referred to in regulation 6(5) for acceptance on to NI Variety Lists of plant varieties of the species specified in Schedule 1. These include matters relating to genetically modified organisms; distinctness, stability and sufficient uniformity described in Part I of Schedule 2; and, in respect of the species of plant varieties other than the species described in Part III of Schedule 2, value for cultivation and use as described in Part II of Schedule 2. Regulation 9 makes provision in relation to maintainers of plant varieties. Regulation 10 makes provision in relation to official measures and regulation 11 makes provision for arrangements for official measures. Regulation 12 provides for the charging of fees. The Department and persons with whom arrangements are made under regulation 11 may charge reasonable fees to cover the costs they reasonably incur in carrying out official measures. The Department may also charge persons concerned in matters connected with the Regulations reasonable fees to cover the costs the Department reasonably incurs in relation to the administration of official measures for the purposes of these Regulations; for example the administration and determination of applications for acceptance of plant varieties on to the NI Variety Lists. Regulation 13 makes provision for marketing prohibition notices. Regulation 14 makes provision for maintenance of plant varieties accepted on to national lists. Regulation 15 provides that acceptance of plant varieties is initially for a period of 10 years and provides the conditions for renewal of acceptance. Regulation 16 provides for revocation of acceptance of plant varieties and maintainers of plant varieties and regulation 17 makes provision for records. Regulation 18 makes provision for representations and hearings in respect of proposed relevant decisions and regulation 19 makes provision for appeals against relevant decisions, except those in respect of naming of plant varieties. Regulation 20 makes provision for obstruction and regulation 21 for offences and penalties. Regulation 22 makes provision for offences due to the fault of another person and the defence of due diligence, regulation 23 applies provisions of the Seeds Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 for the purposes of these Regulations, regulation 24 makes provision for enforcement and regulation 25 for service of notices etc. Regulation 26 provides for savings and transitional provisions. Regulation 27 provides for consequential amendments to seeds marketing regulations. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.

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 0.92.

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