UK Offence Report

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

regulation 16(1) of The Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (Scotland) Regulations 2000

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 of the provisions of these Regulations, with the exception of regulation 6(5); or

ii any notice or requirement contained in

a notice; or

b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with regulation 6(5) or with any requirement imposed by

a veterinary inspector or an inspector in exercise of any powers under these Regulations or obstructs any veterinary inspector or inspector in the exercise of those 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 6(5) or with any requirement imposed by a veterinary inspector or an inspector in exercise of any powers under these Regulations or obstructs any veterinary inspector or inspector in the exercise of those powers, shall be guilty of a

What would breach regulation 16(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 Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (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 re-enact with some amendments the Enzootic Bovine Leukosis Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/757) in relation to Scotland. These Regulations implement the provisions relating to milk in Council Directive 64/432/EEC as amended (on 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 leukosis) (O.J. No. L 145, 13.6.77, p.44). These Directives require the operation of a monitoring and testing programme in order to achieve and maintain official enzootic bovine leukosis-free status. The principal changes made by these Regulations relate to the arrangements for testing milk for evidence of enzootic bovine leukosis and the removal of the list of approved laboratories. Notice must be given to the Divisional Veterinary Manager if any animal, carcase or laboratory sample is found to be infected with enzootic bovine leukosis (regulations 3, 4 and 5). Regulation 6 sets out the duties of purchasers of milk for resale to ensure that milk is sent for testing to one of the approved laboratories. The person in charge of an approved laboratory must notify the Scottish Ministers of any positive test results within 24 hours and negative test results within one month. That person must also maintain records of all the tests carried out for a period of one year from the date of the test (regulation 6(5)). Regulations 7 to 11 provide veterinary inspectors with powers to inquire as to the existence of enzootic bovine leukosis, to control the movement of and to mark affected animals, as well as requiring cleansing and disinfection. Regulations 13 and 14 give the Scottish Ministers power to order the slaughter of affected animals. Regulation 15 gives powers to inspectors. Regulation 16 sets out offences and penalties. The maximum penalty for an offence under the Regulations is the statutory maximum (currently £5000). These Regulations are enforced by the local authority. The Scottish Ministers however have the power to direct in particular cases that they shall enforce the Regulations. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and copies can be obtained from the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, LAHW, Room 350 Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY.

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