UK Offence Report

Application of various provisions of the Act

regulation 6(4) of The Genetically Modified Food (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

2 The authorised officer may either–

a give notice to the person in charge of the food that, until the notice is withdrawn, the food or any portion of it–

i is not to be used for human consumption; and

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

b seize the food and remove it in order to have it dealt with by the sheriff, and any person who knowingly contravenes the requirements of

a notice under paragraph (a) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 6(4)?

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).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Genetically Modified Food (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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
4 October 2004
In force from
15 November 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations, which extend to Scotland only, provide for the enforcement and execution of Chapter II of Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on genetically modified food and feed (O.J. No. L 268, 18.10.03, p.1) (“the Community Regulation”) which relates to food. The Genetically Modified Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (S.S.I. 2004/[ ]) make provision for the enforcement of those provisions of the Community Regulation relating to animal feed. In particular the Regulations– a designate the Food Standards Agency as the national competent authority for receiving applications for the authorisation of new genetically modified organisms for food use, food containing or consisting of genetically modified organisms, or food produced from or containing ingredients produced from genetically modified organisms (regulation 3); b provide for food authorities to enforce the provisions of these Regulations and Chapter II of the Community Regulation (regulation 4); c establish penalties for failing to comply with certain specified provisions of the Community Regulation (regulation 5 and the Schedule); d apply various provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 with some modifications in their application for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 6); e revoke the Genetically Modified and Novel Foods (Labelling) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (regulation 7); and f make consequential amendments to the Novel Foods and Novel Food Ingredients Regulations 1997 by inserting a provision in the Schedule (regulation 8). A Regulatory Impact Assessment, which includes a compliance cost assessment of the effect which these Regulations would have on business costs, has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from the Food Standards Agency, 6th Floor, St Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6NJ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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