UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Sheep Scab (Scotland) Order 2010

the instrument as a whole of The Sheep Scab (Scotland) Order 2010

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

73 of the Animal Health Act 1981. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sheep Scab (Scotland) Order 2010.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
24 November 2010
In force from
17 December 2010
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 replaces the Sheep Scab Order 1997 in so far as it extends to Scotland. This Order does not apply in the local government area of the Shetland Islands. The Shetland Islands Council are empowered to make regulations concerning sheep scab by the Sheep Scab (Shetland Islands) Order 2003. This Order is made under powers in the Animal Health Act 1981. Part1 of the Order contains definitions and makes other provisions of an introductory and administrative nature. Part2 contains provisions relating to cases of sheep scab and suspected sheep scab, and includes provisions concerning— a the compulsory notification of sheep scab or suspected sheep scab (article4); b the imposition of movement restrictions upon confirmation or suspicion that sheep or carcases on premises have sheep scab (article5(1) to (3)) which cease to apply in circumstances detailed in article5(6). Exception is made for movement for treatment or slaughter, in accordance with clearance notice or under the authority of a licence (article5(4)); c the power of an inspector, by notice, to require the owner or keeper of affected sheep or carcases to arrange for a veterinary surgeon to establish whether there are sheep or carcases which have sheep scab on the premises (article6(1)). Service of such a notice imposes movement restrictions on sheep (article6(3)), which restrictions will cease to apply in circumstances detailed in article6(7). Exception is made for movement for treatment, slaughter or under the authority of a licence (article6(5)); d the power of an inspector, by notice, to require sheep which are affected or suspected of being affected with sheep scab to be removed from markets or places of exhibition and to require the cleansing of such premises (article7). Part3 contains provisions relating to the clearance of sheep from common land and includes provisions which— a empower an inspector to require, by notice, the owner or keeper of sheep which are kept on any common land to move those sheep off the land before the date specified in the notice (article8), and prohibit the movement back onto the land specified in the clearance notice for 3months unless the sheep have been treated (article9); and b empower the local authority to seize and dispose of such sheep if unable to establish ownership and also affected sheep living in the local authority area where the owner cannot immediately be identified (article10). Part4 contains general provisions which— a make provision regarding the slaughter of affected sheep (article11); b enable an inspector to mark sheep or require the keeper of sheep to mark the sheep (article12); c empower an inspector to require the cleansing of premises (article13); d confer powers of entry and inspection and powers in cases of default on inspectors (articles14 and 15); e make provision regarding offences committed by bodies corporate (article16); f provide for the enforcement of the Order by the local authority (article17); and g impose a duty to provide reasonable assistance (article18), and not to provide false information to persons acting in execution of the Order (article19). The Sheep Scab Order 1997 is revoked (article20) and transitional provisions made (article21). Failure to comply with the Order is an offence under section73 of the Animal Health Act 1981 and is punishable in accordance with section75 of that Act. No business regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations as no impact upon business, charities or voluntary bodies is foreseen.

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 0.55.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.55 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