UK Offence Report

4 A person shall be guilty of an offence if that person knowingly alters a plant passport affixed to…

article 15(4) of The Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (Scotland) Order 2004 (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

4 A person shall be guilty of an offence if that person knowingly alters

a plant passport affixed to susceptible material or re-uses

a plant passport for susceptible material which is not the material for which the plant passport was issued.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 article 15(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 alters a plant passport affixed to susceptible material or re-uses a plant passport for susceptible material which is not the material for which the plant passport was issued.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (Scotland) Order 2004.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

the level is stated but no money value is given: this instrument extends outside the United Kingdom, where the standard scale set by s.122(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 does not run.

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 November 2004
In force from
2 December 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.

This Order, which comes into force on 2nd December 2004, implements in Scotland– a Commission Decisions 2002/757/EC of 19th September 2002 (O.J. No. L 252, 20.9.2002, p.37) and 2004/426/EC of 29th April 2004 (O.J. No. L 189, 27.5.2004, p.1) on provisional emergency phytosanitary measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread of within the Community of Phytophthora ramorum insofar as they relate to plants other than forest trees; and b Commission Decision 2004/278/EC (O.J. No. L 87, 25.3.2004, p.31) on the Community position on the amendment of the Appendices to Annex 4 to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade and agricultural products insofar as it relates to Camellia, Rhododendron and Viburnum. The Order prohibits the introduction and spread of the plant pest, Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus identified as causing Sudden Oak Death syndrome in certain species of oak in the USA and harm to other plant species, including Camellia, Rhododendron and Viburnum (article 3). It controls the importation of plants of a number of susceptible species from the USA, requiring such material to be accompanied by phytosanitary certificates which may be issued only after specific checks have been carried out during production and before consignment; or alternatively, where the material originates in a part of the USA recognised by plant health authorities as free from the pest, confirming that fact (article 4 and Schedule 1). Susceptible material imported from third countries, including the USA must have a plant passport when it is moved within Scotland or elsewhere in the European Community (EC) or Switzerland (article 5). Plants of Camellia, Rhododendron and Viburnum produced in Scotland or originating anywhere else in the EC (which includes for these purposes, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) or Switzerland, must be accompanied by a plant passport when they are moved, and are subject to further controls on their movement (article 6 and Schedule 2). The Order requires producers of Camellia, Rhododendron and Viburnum in Scotland wishing to move such material to be registered if they are not already registered under the principal Plant Health Order (the Plant Health (Great Britain) Order 1993, as amended) (“the principal Order”) (article 7). There are some exceptions to the movement restrictions in the case of persons not acting in the course of a trade, business or undertaking (article 7(4)). Provisions similar to those in the principal Order apply to authorisations to registered traders to enable them to issue plant passports under the supervision of SEERAD, as the official plant health service in Scotland (article 8) and to the issue of phytosanitary certificates in Scotland and the treatment of phytosanitary certificates or plant passports issued outside Scotland (articles 9 and 10). There is provision for licensed importation, movement and keeping of the prohibited pest for research purposes (article 11). Provisions similar to those in the principal Order apply to actions which may be required or which may be taken by Plant Health Inspectors (articles 12 to 14). Offences similar to those created in the principal Order are created in respect of the production of plant passports pursuant to this Order and in respect of the introduction, spread and movement of the pest and compliance with notices served under this Order and the obstruction of inspectors exercising their powers under this Order (article 15). Article 3 of the Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (Scotland) Order 2002 (S.S.I. 2002/223 and the Plant Health (Phytophthora ramorum) (No. 2) (Scotland) Order 2002 (S.S.I. 2002/483)are revoked (article 16). No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been carried out in relation to this Order.

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