UK Offence Report

Provision of information to Quality Meat Scotland

article 14(2) of The Quality Meat Scotland Order 2008

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 It is an offence knowingly to provide false or misleading information relating to the requirements of this Order to Quality Meat Scotland.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 14(2)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Quality Meat Scotland Order 2008.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

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
28 February 2008
In force from
1 April 2008
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 creates a new body called Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) (Article 3). QMS has functions and duties relating to the beef, sheepmeat and pork industries. It operates for these industries in Scotland. The Order contains provisions for the constitution and proceedings of the Board (Article 4 and Schedule 2). The Board must raise levies relating to each industry (Article 6). Details of payment of the levies, and the maximum permitted levy, are set out in Schedule 3. Under that Schedule, failure to make a return relating to a levy is an offence. Article 5 permits QMS to delegate functions (specified in Schedule 1) to a subsidiary company. If demanded by a set percentage of levy payers in any given sector, the Board must hold a ballot on whether or not the levy system should continue in that sector (Articles 9, 10 and 11). Ballots can also be called by QMS or by the Scottish Ministers through a direction to QMS. Article 12 provides details of the reports and accounts which QMS must provide. Article 13 provides for specified required information which QMS must provide or make available. Article 14 provides for specified information which is to be made available to QMS by levy payers. Article 15 specifies the offences and penalties for breaches of particular aspects of the Order. The penalty for breach of the Order is a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000). A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Government Rural Directorate, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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