UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 23(1) of The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) (No. 3) 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

1 A person contravening any provision of these Regulations 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) (No. 3) Regulations 2001.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

the level is stated but no money value is given: this instrument extends outside the United Kingdom, where the standard scale set by s.122(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 does not run.

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
20 November 2001
In force from
20 November 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 implement in Scotland the continuation of restrictions on imports and exports of certain animals and animal products in accordance with Commission Decision 2001/789/EC amending for the second time Commission Decision 2001/740/EC concerning certain protection measures with regard to foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom (O.J. No. L295, 13.11.01, p.25). They consolidate, with amendments, the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (No. 2) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) (Recovery of Costs) Regulations 2001. They prohibit the import and export of specified live animals (regulations 4 and 5) and restrict the export of fresh meat, meat products, milk, milk products, semen, ova and embryos from biungulate animals, hides and skins, and animal products (regulations 6 to 12). The restrictions differ from the previous Regulations in that they permit the dispatch from Scotland of beef from those areas of Scotland from which such exports were prohibited, and permit the dispatch of sheepmeat and goatmeat, and farmed and wild game of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, from certain areas of Scotland (regulation 6). The areas referred to in regulation 6 are the Council areas listed in Schedule 1. The Administrative Unit is used by the European Commission to designate areas of the United Kingdom for the purpose of allowing exports. The Regulations also permit the import and export of certain products in transit, and products made from pre-processed products originating outside the United Kingdom (regulation 13). The veterinary certificate required for the export of these products can in some circumstances be replaced by a commercial certificate, suitably endorsed in accordance with regulation 14. The Regulations require a certification for exports to third countries as well as to other member States (regulation 15). They also place restrictions on the export of horses (regulation 16). The Regulations prohibit offering or accepting orders to dispatch or export restricted products (regulation 17). They give inspectors appointed by the Scottish Ministers powers to enter premises and carry out examinations (regulation 18) and empower the Scottish Ministers to stop and detain vehicles and vessels pending examination by an inspector (regulation 19). They provide for a notice procedure whereby an inspector can prohibit export of a consignment if the inspector is not satisfied that products comply with these Regulations (regulation 20). They also permit the Scottish Ministers to recover reasonable costs for supervision or inspections (regulation 21). Obstruction of a person carrying out duties under the Regulations is prohibited (regulation 22). Breach of the Regulations is, under regulation 23, punishable– a on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or the statutory maximum or to imprisonment 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. Provision is made for offences by bodies corporate (regulation 24), reciprocal recognition of certificates etc (regulation 25), and enforcement (regulation 26). Consequential amendments are made to the Meat Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1994, the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 and the Minced Meat and Meat Preparations (Hygiene) Regulations 1995 (regulation 27, 28 and 29). The consolidated enactments are revoked (regulation 30 and Schedule 3).

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