Penalties

regulation 18(1) of The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) Regulations 2001

Status not determined
Strict liability
Either way
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlife

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 18(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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) Regulations 2001.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine: £5,000
Standard scale: Level 5
Maximum prison (summary): 3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment): 2 years

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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.

Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017
Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.
Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 9 March 2001
In force from: 9 March 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

These Regulations implement in Scotland restrictions on imports and exports of certain animals and animal products in accordance with Commission Decision 2001/190/EC of 6th March 2001 amending Decision 2001/172/EC concerning certain protection measures with regard to foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom (O.J. No. L 67, 9.3.2001, p.88). They revoke the Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) Regulations 2001 (S.I 2001/498), the Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Amendment) Regulations 2001, in so far as they apply in Scotland, and the Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.S.I. 2001/61). They prohibit the import and export of specified live animals (regulation 3) and restrict the export of fresh meat, meat products, milk, milk products, semen and embryos from biungulate animals, hides and skins, and animal products (regulations 4 to 10). The restrictions differ from the previous Regulations in that the veterinary certificate required for the export of these products can in some circumstances be replaced by a commercial certificate, suitable endorsed in accordance with regulation 12. The Regulations also permit for the first time certain products in transit, and products made from pre-processed products originating outside the United Kingdom (regulation 11). The Regulations require a certification for exports to third countries as well as to other member State (regulation 13). They give inspectors appointed by the Scottish Ministers powers to enter premises and carry out examinations (regulation 14) and empower the Scottish Ministers to stop and detain vehicles and vessels pending examination by an inspector (regulation 15). They introduce 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 16). Obstruction of a person carrying out duties under the Regulations is prohibited (regulation 17). Breach of the Regulations is, under regulation 18, 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 19).

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlifeOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2001