UK Offence Report

Inspection and seizure of jelly mini-cups

regulation 5(3) of The Food (Jelly Mini-Cups) (Emergency Control) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

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

3 The authorised officer may either–

a give notice to the person in charge of such jelly mini-cups that, until the notice is withdrawn, the jelly mini-cups or any specified quantity of them–

i are not to be used for human consumption; and

ii either are not to be removed or are not to be removed except to some place specified in the notice; or

b seize such jelly mini-cups and remove them in order to have them dealt with by the sheriff, and any person who knowingly contravenes the requirements of

a notice under paragraph (a) above shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly.

What would breach regulation 5(3)?

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 knowingly contravenes the requirements of a notice under paragraph (a) above.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Food (Jelly Mini-Cups) (Emergency Control) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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.

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
15 April 2004
In force from
16 April 2004
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations, which extend to Scotland only, are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. They implement the Commission Decision dated 13th April 2004 suspending the placing on the market and import of jelly mini-cups containing the food additives E400 alginic acid, E401 sodium alginate, E402 potassium alginate, E403 ammonium alginate, E404 calcium alginate, E405 propane 1, 2-diol alginate, E406 agar, E407 carrageenan, E407a processed euchema seaweed, E410 locust bean gum, E412 guar gum, E413 tragacanth, E414 acacia gum, E415 xanthan gum, E417 tara gum or E418 gellan gum (“the prohibited additives”). The Regulations– a prohibit the carrying out of commercial operations with regard to jelly mini-cups which contain any of the prohibited additives (regulation 3(1)); b prohibit the use of any of the prohibited additives in the manufacture of jelly mini-cups (regulation 3(2)); c specify the enforcement authority and make consequential provisions relating to the execution and enforcement of the Regulations by a food authority (regulation 4); d provide powers of seizure and inspection to authorised officers of food authorities in relation to suspected jelly mini-cups (regulation 5); and e apply, with modifications, certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulation 6) and regulation 9(1) of the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990 (regulation 7). No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Other offences in the same 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