UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Pet Travel Scheme (Scotland) Order 2003

the instrument as a whole of The Pet Travel Scheme (Scotland) Order 2003

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

73 of the Animal Health Act 1981. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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. Moving the goods across the border under the Pet Travel Scheme (Scotland) Order 2003 without the licence the instrument requires.
  2. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  3. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
31 March 2003
In force from
8 April 2003
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order, which extends to Scotland only, creates, in limited circumstances, a Pet Travel Scheme similar to that already in place in England. The Scheme provides for exemptions from the requirement that pet cats and pet dogs imported into Scotland must be placed in quarantine under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974, S.I. 1974/2211. The Order draws a distinction between qualifying European and non-European countries and territories, and makes provision for animals entering Scotland from each (Article 4 and Schedules 1 and 5.) In the case of qualifying European countries and territories, the animal must be transported by a carrier authorised by the Scottish Ministers. It must be identified by a microchip, vaccinated against rabies, and must have had a blood sample taken and tested demonstrating that the vaccination was successful. There must have been a six-month delay between the date the sample was taken and importation. All this must have been carried out in one of the countries or territories specified in Schedule 1. The animal must have been vaccinated against ticks and the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis in accordance with the Order, and must not have left the territories specified in Schedule 1 in the preceding six months. The animal must be accompanied by two official health certificates relating to rabies vaccination and treatment for Echinococcus multilocularis and ticks, and a declaration to the effect that the animal has not been outside the countries covered by the Pet Travel Scheme in the previous six months. Similar provisions apply to non-European countries and territories (Schedule 5). The Scottish Ministers will approve a transport undertaking as a carrier under this Order if they are satisfied that the carrier is able to comply with the Order, and in particular with the conditions in Schedule 4 (article 7(1)(c)). A carrier is under a duty to check that the correct documentation is carried and that the animal is imported in accordance with the Order (article 8). The Order imposes duties on passengers bringing in cats and dogs during the journey and on arrival (article 4 and Schedules 1 and 5) and gives powers to officers of the Scottish Ministers and local authorities to stop vehicles and carry out searches (article 9). The Order makes consequential amendments to the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974. Failure to comply with a condition of the Order relating to importation of an animal is an offence under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974. Breach of the Order otherwise is an offence under section 72 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

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 0.55.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.55 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