UK Offence Report

Offences: general

regulation 9(1) of The Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026

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 It is an offence to contravene, or to cause or permit

a person to contravene—

a regulation 3 (Duty to install and operate

a CCTV system); or

b regulation 4 (Duty to retain CCTV images or information).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 9(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. On these words it is an offence to contravene, or to cause or permit a person to contravene— a regulation 3 (Duty to install and operate a CCTV system).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026, 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
7 July 2026
In force from
Not determined
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 make provision complementary to EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (“the EU Regulation”) and the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2014 (“the 2014 Regulations”). These Regulations introduce requirements on operators of slaughterhouses (“business operators”) in Northern Ireland to install and operate a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system in all areas where live animals are present (regulation 3). Regulation 4 requires business operators to retain CCTV footage and associated data for a period of 90 days. Inspectors are given powers to require compliance with these Regulations. This includes powers of inspection and seizure where an inspector has entered premises for the purposes of executing and enforcing the 2014 Regulations or the EU Regulation (regulation 5) and powers to issue enforcement notices (regulation 6). Regulation 7 makes provision for appeals relating to notices under regulation 6, and regulation 8 makes further provision in relation to notices. Regulations 9 and 10 provide that contravention of regulations 3 and 4, failure to comply with an enforcement notice and obstructing inspectors are offences. Regulations 11 makes provision as to penalties. A full regulatory impact assessment has been produced for this Statutory Rule. Copies can be obtained by writing to Animal Welfare and Dog Control Policy Branch, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Jubilee House, 111 Ballykelly Road, Ballykelly, Limavady, BT49 9HP or by emailing animalwelfarepolicy@daera-ni.gov.uk.

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 0.90.

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