UK Offence Report

11 A person who contravenes regulation 2(1), 2(2), 3(1), 4(1), 6(3) or 10 shall be guilty of an offence and…

regulation 11 of The Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Scotland) Regulations 2001

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

11 A person who contravenes regulation 2(1), 2(2), 3(1), 4(1), 6(3) or

10 shall be guilty of an offence and liable–

a on summary conviction, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or to

a fine not exceeding £20,000 or to both;

b on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or to

a fine 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 11?

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 an offence is committed where a person contravenes regulation 2(1), 2(2), 3(1), 4(1), 6(3) or 10.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Scotland) Regulations 2001, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£20,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
6 June 2001
In force from
1 July 2001
Extent
S

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 re-enact, with changes the Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Scotland) Regulations 1991 (“the 1991 Regulations”), which require persons with custody or control of a crop being made into silage, of livestock slurry or of certain fuel oil to carry out works and take precautions and other steps for preventing pollution of inland or coastal waters. The principal changes are– a to clarify the meaning of the term “silage”; b to make provision to ensure that places where silage is proposed to be stored are at least 10 metres from inland or coastal waters; c to allow persons making bulk bagged silage on farms to do so without restrictions where bags in which that silage is kept incorporate a facility which allows for the safe removal of excess effluent; d to remove the 30 days notice provision in the 1991 Regulations where bulk bagged silage is made in an acceptable manner since that provision is now considered to be unnecessary; e to allow for substantial reconstruction of an exempt structure with the agreement of SEPA, where the risk of pollution will be reduced; f to extend the powers available to SEPA to serve notices in respect of all structures used for purposes covered by the 1991 Regulations rather than being restricted to exempt structures where there is a significant risk of pollution identified; and g to allow SEPA in cases where a notice requiring works is necessary to require the drawing up and implementation of a Farm Waste Management Plan in accordance with methods identified for the collection, storage and land application of slurry and manure contained within guidance currently contained within the Code of Good Practice for the Prevention of Environmental Pollution From Agricultural Activity. Copies of the documents published by the British Standards Institution referred to in the Regulations may be obtained from any of the sales outlets of the British Standards Institution or by post from the British Standards Institution, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes, MK14 6LE (Telephone number: Milton Keynes 01908 220022) and copies of the Code of Good Practice for the Prevention of Environmental Pollution From Agricultural Activity may be obtained free of charge from the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY or from SERAD local area offices. 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 Environment Protection Unit, the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.

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