UK Offence Report

Information

regulation 5(4) of The Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2009

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 Any person who—

a without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within

a reasonable time with

a demand made under paragraph(1); or

b in purported compliance with paragraph(1), knowingly or recklessly supplies information or evidence that is false or misleading in

a material particular, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level5 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

4 Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand made under paragraph(1); or b in purported compliance with paragraph(1), knowingly or recklessly supplies information or evidence that is false or misleading in a material particular, shall be guilty of

What would breach regulation 5(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2009.
  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
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
21 June 2009
In force from
28 September 2009
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.

1.These Regulations extend to Scotland only. They revoke and replace the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2008. 2.These Regulations provide for the execution and enforcement in relation to Scotland of Articles26 and 27 of Regulation (EC) No.882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules in so far as those provisions— a require or, in the case of certain types of poultry (e.g. quail) permit, fees to be collected in respect of official controls performed under Regulation (EC) No.854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption at slaughterhouses, game-handling establishments and cutting plants for the verification of compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No.853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for good food of animal origin in so far as they apply in relation to meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and meat of wild game; b require fees to be collected to cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed at slaughterhouses to verify compliance with the animal welfare rules set out in Council Directive 93/119/EC on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing (O.J.No.L340, 31.12.93, p.21) in so far as they apply in relation to animals slaughtered for human consumption at slaughterhouses; c permit fees to be collected to cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed outside the slaughterhouse where domestic ungulates have been slaughtered outside the slaughterhouse having suffered accidents that for welfare reasons prevent their transport to the slaughterhouse; d permit fees to be collected to cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed where certain kinds of poultry are slaughtered on farm; and e permit fees to be collected to cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed at the place of origin of farmed ratites, certain farmed game mammals and bison where for safety or animal welfare reasons the animals concerned are slaughtered there, rather than at a slaughterhouse. 3.These Regulations— a provide that reference to the Community instruments defined in Schedule 1 are to be construed as references to those instruments as they may be amended from time to time (regulation 2(2)); b require the Food Standards Agency (“the Agency”) to notify each operator who is carrying on a food business at any slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment, cutting plant, farm or place of origin at which official controls have been exercised of the official controls charge that has arisen in relation to those officials controls (the terms “slaughterhouse”, “game-handling establishment”, “cutting plant”, “place of origin”, “official controls” and “official controls charge” are all defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 3); c provide that any official controls charge so notified is payable by the operator to the Scottish Ministers on demand (regulation 3); d allow the Scottish Ministers to direct the Agency not to exercise any further official controls at given premises where, despite a court decree requiring the operator of the premises to pay the official controls charge for which the operator is liable, that operator fails to comply with the order (regulation 4); e require persons to supply the Agency on demand— i with such information as the Agency may reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the official controls charge or notifying the operator of it, and ii with such evidence as the Agency may reasonably require to enable it to verify that information (regulation 5); f make provision as to the service of any such demand on the operator (regulation 5); and g provide that a person to whom such a demand has been made— i without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with the demand for information or evidence; or ii in response to the demand for information or evidence, knowingly or recklessly gives false or misleading information, is guilty of an offence (regulation 5). 4.Schedule 2 to these Regulations sets out how the official controls charge is to be calculated. 5.A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will 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

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