UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Classical Swine Fever (Scotland) Order 2003

the instrument as a whole of The Classical Swine Fever (Scotland) Order 2003 (revoked)

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Classical Swine Fever (Scotland) Order 2003.

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
9 September 2003
In force from
10 September 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 applies to Scotland, implements Council Directive 2001/89/EC (O.J. No. L 316, 01/12/2001, p.0005) revising Community measures for the control of classical swine fever. It revokes and replaces the Swine Fever (Infected Areas Restrictions) Order 1956 and the Swine Fever Order 1963. This Order– a requires any person who suspects that a pig or carcase is infected with classical swine fever (“the disease”) to notify the Divisional Veterinary Manager for that area (article 4); b requires the Divisional Veterinary Manager, in any case where he suspects that the disease may exist on a holding, to serve a notice imposing the requirements set out article 5; c permits a veterinary inspector to serve a further notice extending certain of the restrictions in article 5 (article 6); d where the presence of the disease is confirmed on a holding, requires a veterinary inspector to serve a notice on the occupier of the holding requiring him to ensure that the restrictions and requirements in article 5 and any applicable requirements of article 6 are carried out (article 7); e sets out the measures which must be taken where the disease is confirmed in a slaughterhouse, knacker’s yard or other place or on a means of transport (article 8); f makes provision for an epidemiological investigation in certain circumstances (articles 5(1)(c), 7(b) and 8(2)); g sets out the action that should be taken where it is considered that the disease may have been transferred to or from the infected or suspected holding to or from another holding (article 9); h provides for the establishment of temporary control zones imposing restrictions to limit the spread of the disease (article 10); i requires the Scottish Ministers to set up an infected area around the location of the outbreak of the disease and provides for this to be split into a protection zone and a surveillance zone in order that the disease can be controlled and monitored (article 11); j sets out requirements for cleansing and disinfection where that is required under the Order (article 12); k sets out the measures to be taken where the disease is suspected or confirmed in feral pigs (articles 13 & 14); l prohibits the use of the classical swine fever vaccine except for duly authorised purposes (article 15); m gives power to an inspector to take action to ensure that the requirements of this Order are carried out where any person fails to comply with those restrictions and requirements, and sets up an appeal procedure (article 16); This Order will impose no financial cost on the industry unless there were to be confirmed cases of classical swine fever. Since the requirements imposed by the Directive will differ little from existing practice, in the event of the disease being confirmed in pig herds in Scotland there should be no additional burdens in complying with the new requirements. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared for this Order, and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Development Department, Pentland House, 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 0.55.

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