UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Scotland) Order2000

article 2(4) of The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 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 After article 3(2) insert—

3 Any person who fails to comply with article 2A(2) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no fault word in the offence-creating words, but the surrounding provision uses knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly - which element it governs was not determined.

What would breach article 2(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 fails to comply with article 2A(2).
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2009.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£10,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
2 September 2009
In force from
25 September 2009
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 amends the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Scotland) Order 2000 (S.S.I.2000/7) (“theprincipal Order”). The principal Order makes provision for the enforcement of restrictions and obligations contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No.2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (O.J.No.L261, 20.10.93, p.1) (“the Council Regulation”). This Order provides for the enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No.1966/2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing (O.J.No.L409, 30.12.06, p.1) and Commission Regulation (EC) No.1077/2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1966/2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1566/2007 (O.J. No. L295, 4.11.08, p.3), which require the electronic transmission of information to be recorded in sales notes and take‑over declarations. This Order provides for a public register, to be maintained by the Scottish Ministers, of all registered buyers, registered auctions and other authorised entities or persons responsible for the first sale of fishery products in Scotland, which have the prescribed annual financial turnover: an annual financial turnover in first sales of fishery products in excess of €400,000 (Article2(3)). (The sterling equivalent of €400,000 is calculated by reference to the European Central Bank’s official average euro foreign exchange reference rate for the year for which turnover is being assessed.) This Order makes it an offence for any such registered buyer, registered auction or other authorised entity or person to fail to inform the Scottish Ministers whether or not it has the prescribed annual financial turnover or to knowingly or recklessly provide information concerning financial turnover which is materially false (Article2(4)). This Order also makes it an offence for any such registered buyers, registered auctions and other authorised entities or persons with the prescribed annual financial turnover, to fail to electronically transmit information required to be recorded in sales notes and take‑over declarations or to knowingly or recklessly transmit information which is false in a material particular (Article2(6)(c) and (d)). Any such offences are punishable, on summary conviction, by a maximum fine of £50,000, or, on conviction on indictment, by a fine. This Order also revises the Schedule to the principal Order by specifying the provisions of Commission Regulation (EEC) No.1382/87 establishing detailed rules concerning the inspection of fishing vessels (O.J. No. L132, 21.05.87, p.11) as detailed rules for the purposes of Article5b of the Council Regulation (article 2(6)(a) and (b)). A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to this Order has been prepared and placed in SPICE. Copies can be obtained from Marine Scotland, Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH141TY.

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