UK Offence Report

1 Any person who– a contravenes, or fails to comply with– i any provision of these Regulations with the…

regulation 23(1) of The Brucellosis (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (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 Any person who–

a contravenes, or fails to comply with–

i any provision of these Regulations with the exception of regulation 7(5);

ii any notice or requirement contained in

a notice; or

b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with regulation 7(5) or with any requirement imposed by

a veterinary inspector or inspector in exercise of any powers under these Regulations or obstructs any veterinary inspector or inspector in the exercise of these powers, shall be guilty of 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

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

any notice or requirement contained in a notice; or b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with regulation 7(5) or with any requirement imposed by a veterinary inspector or inspector in exercise of any powers under these Regulations or obstructs any veterinary inspector or inspector in the exercise of these powers, shall be guilty of an o

What would breach regulation 23(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 Brucellosis (Scotland) Regulations 2000.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
12 October 2000
In force from
1 November 2000
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 substantially re enact the Brucellosis Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/758) in relation to Scotland. These Regulations implement the provisions relating to milk in Council Directive 64/432/EEC as amended (on animal health problems affecting intra Community trade in bovine animals and swine) (O.J. No. L 121, 29.7.64, p.1977) and Council Directive 77/391/EEC as amended (introducing Community measures for the eradication of brucellosis, tuberculosis and leucosis in cattle) (O.J. No. L 145, 13.6.77, p.44). These Directives require the operation of a monitoring and testing programme to maintain the officially brucellosis free status of Great Britain under Council Directive 64/432/EEC. Regulations 4, 5 and 6 deal with restrictions on vaccination and treatment of diseased animals as well as controls on movement of diseased animals. The principal changes made by these Regulations relate to the arrangements for testing milk for evidence of brucellosis and the removal of the list of approved laboratories. Regulation 7(1) sets out the duties of those who buy milk in Scotland for resale to ensure that milk is sent for testing to an approved laboratory. The person in charge of an approved laboratory must notify the Scottish Ministers if the result of any test for brucellosis is positive within 24 hours and if the result is negative within one month. That person must maintain records of all the tests carried out for a period of one year (regulation 7(5)). Veterinary inspectors can require testing of animals for brucellosis (regulation 8). Owners of bovine animals are required to notify abortions or premature calving (regulation 10). Regulations 11 to 17 provide for measures to control the spread of any brucellosis infection. Diseased animals can be slaughtered at the request of the Scottish Ministers (regulations 18 to 21). Regulation 22 gives powers to veterinary inspectors and inspectors. Regulation 23 sets out offences and penalties. The maximum penalty for an offence under the Regulations is the statutory maximum (currently £5000). The Regulations are enforced by the local authority (regulation 24). The Scottish Ministers have the power to direct in particular cases that they shall enforce the Regulations. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations has not been prepared as the Regulations place no new burdens on those affected by them.

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