UK Offence Report

Bodies corporate, Scottish partnerships and unincorporated associations

regulation 23(1) of The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012

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

1 Where— a an offence under regulation 22 has been committed by a body corporate or a Scottish partnership or other unincorporated association; and b it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of or was attributable to any neglect on the part of— i a relevant individual; or ii an individual purporting to act on behalf of a relevant individual, the individual as well as the body corporate, Scottish partnership or unincorporated association commits an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 body corporate
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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 body corporate 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.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 23(1)?

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 Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
22 November 2012
In force from
1 January 2013
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.

The Regulations make provision in Scotland for the administration and enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (“the EU Regulation”) and certain national rules maintained under Article 26(1) and (2) of the EU Regulation. Part 1 is introductory and includes definitions and designates the competent authority responsible for various functions under the Regulations. Part 2 requires persons to obtain a certificate of competence or temporary certificate of competence before carrying out the killing of animals and related operations. The Regulations also provide for the refusal, suspension or revocation of certificates of competence or temporary certificates of competence and for the right to appeal against a decision to refuse, suspend or revoke them. Part 3 and Schedule 1 set out national rules that have been maintained in accordance with Article26(1) of the EU Regulation to maintain high levels of protection of animals at the time of killing. Part 4 places an obligation on the competent authority to publish a notice in writing if the competent authority grants a derogation from specified provisions of the EU Regulation for a depopulation operation. Part 5 contains provisions relating to enforcement. Authorised persons, appointed by the Scottish Ministers or the Food Standards Agency, are given powers to require compliance with these Regulations and the EU Regulation, including powers of entry and seizure and powers to issue enforcement notices. Breaching an enforcement notice and obstructing authorised persons is an offence. Part 6 sets out the offences for contravening these Regulations or the EU Regulation. Regulation24 sets out the penalties on summary conviction. Part 7 sets out rules for appeals. Part 8 provides for notices, transitional provisions, consequential amendments, repeals and revocations. The Regulations revoke PartII of, and Schedules2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 insofar as they apply to slaughterhouses. A business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Government Directorate for Agriculture, Food and Rural Communities, Animal Health and Welfare Division, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XG.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits 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