UK Offence Report

Separation of young cats and young dogs

regulation 15(6) of The Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Young Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (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

6 It is an offence for

a person, without lawful authority or excuse, to contravene or fail to comply with any provision of this regulation, and such

a person will be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

3 months, or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

6 It is an offence for a person, without lawful authority or excuse, to contravene or fail to comply with any provision of this regulation, and such a person will be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or both.

What would breach regulation 15(6)?

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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Young Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. 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
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
30 March 2009
In force from
Not determined
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision for the licensing of animal dealers who are persons who acquire and sell young cats and young dogs and are, therefore, engaged in animal dealing. Regulation 3 makes provision for those persons who are required to hold an animal dealing licence. Provisions as to application for a licence and the charging of fees are set out in regulations 4 and 5, respectively. Regulations 6 to 9 make provision as to the consideration of applications, their grant and renewal, conditions, and revocation, suspension and variation of licences. Regulation 10 provides for the licence to continue temporarily when a licence holder dies. Regulation 11 provides for a local authority to appoint inspectors to exercise the powers conferred on them by these regulations. Provision for the local authority to keep a register of licence holders is contained in regulation 12. Regulation 13 provides for the local authority to review its decisions at the request of an applicant or licence holder. Regulation 14 makes provision as to appeals. Regulation 15 requires young cats and young dogs to be kept separate from other animals for a period of not less than 10 days. Regulation 16 provides that a young cat or young dog must be transported directly to its purchaser. Regulation 17 provides for the powers of inspectors and regulation 18 provides the penalty for obstructing an inspector. Regulation 19 makes provision as to the offence of making a false statement. Regulation 20 provides for offences by bodies corporate and regulation 21 makes provision in relation to disqualifications. Regulation 22 provides for termination or variation of disqualification. Enforcement by the local authority is provided for in regulation 23. The Schedule sets out the information to be completed by an animal dealer to create the written record which accompanies a young cat or young dog when it is sold to a purchaser. A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. A copy can be obtained from the Scottish Government Rural Directorate, Pentland House, Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens; the provision states liability on summary conviction
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