UK Offence Report

7 Any person who contravenes regulation 4 above or causes or permits another person to contravene that…

regulation 7 of The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

7 Any person who contravenes regulation

4 above or causes or permits another person to contravene that regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 7?

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 contravenes regulation 4 above or causes or permits another person to contravene that regulation.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2004
Made
10 June 2004
In force from
1 September 2004
Extent
S

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations which apply to Scotland only, prohibit the use of lead shot for shooting with a shot gun on or over wetlands (regulation 4). Regulation 2 contains definitions of terms used. In regulation 3 “wetlands” is described by reference to Article 1.1 of the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat signed at Ramsar on 2nd February 1971 (as amended from time to time). Article 1.1 states: “For the purpose of this Convention wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres”. Regulation 3 also clarifies what is meant by the terms “peatland” and “temporary” wetlands in that Article for the purposes of these Regulations. Regulation 5 sets out powers to enable a constable to ascertain whether an offence has been committed under these Regulations where the constable has reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed. It sets out powers of search, seizure and entry into any land without a warrant, except for dwellings and lockfast premises. The police are able to obtain a warrant to enter any premises except for dwellings if necessary using reasonable force. There is also a power to enable samples or any articles or substances to be taken. In exercising powers under this regulation a constable may be accompanied by any other person to assist and may take necessary equipment or materials. Regulation 6 places a duty on a constable to ensure, when leaving unoccupied land or land of which the owner is temporarily absent, which the constable has entered in exercise of the powers under regulation 5, that the land is effectively secured against unauthorised entry as the constable found it. Regulation 7 creates the offence of contravention, or causing or permitting the contravention of regulation 4. It makes that offence punishable summarily with a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. Regulation 8 provides for offences which are committed by bodies corporate, partnerships and unincorporated associations and extends liability to persons in control of such bodies in certain circumstances.

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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