UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 17(1) of The Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 2013

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 A person who contravenes or fails to comply with

a provision listed in paragraph (2) commits 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 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.

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 17(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes or fails to comply with a provision listed in paragraph (2).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 2013, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. 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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
29 October 2013
In force from
20 November 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.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption, as last amended by Directive 2012/12/EU. They revoke and replace the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 2003 (as amended). These Regulations provide that a reference in these Regulations to an EU instrument referred to in Schedule 1 is an ambulatory reference to that EU instrument as amended from time to time (regulation 3(3) and Schedule 1). The Regulations regulate the use of the names “fruit juice” (regulation 4 and Schedules 2 and 11), “fruit juice from concentrate” (regulation 5 and Schedules 3 and 13), “concentrated fruit juice” (regulation 6 and Schedule 4), “water extracted fruit juice” (regulation 7 and Schedule 5), “dehydrated fruit juice” and “powdered fruit juice” (regulation 8 and Schedule 6) and “fruit nectar” (regulation 9 and Schedules 7 and 12). They lay down what additional ingredients and substances may be added to regulated products (Schedules 8 and 9) and what treatments the products may undergo in their manufacture (Schedule 10). They require certain particulars to be indicated when trading in regulated products, including– a a requirement to indicate the kinds of fruits, or (in some cases) the number of kinds of fruits, used to make a regulated product (regulation 10); b an indication of whether extra pulp or cells have been added to a fruit juice (regulation 11); c a requirement for a fruit juice made from a mixture of fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate to indicate that it is partially made from concentrate or concentrates (regulation 12); d a requirement to indicate any added lemon juice, lime juice or acidifying agents in a concentrated fruit juice that is not intended for delivery to the final consumer (regulation 13); and e various indications for a fruit nectar, including an indication of its fruit content (regulation 14). The Regulations make provision relating to the manner in which the particulars required by these Regulations should be marked or labelled (regulation 15). The Regulations impose an obligation on food authorities to enforce the Regulations (regulation 16) and make it an offence to fail to comply with specified provisions (regulation 17). The Regulations apply certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 with modifications (regulation 18 and Schedule 14). The Regulations revoke and replace the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 2003 (as amended) and revoke other relevant legislation (regulation 19). They make consequential amendments (regulation 20 and Schedule 15) and transitional provisions (regulation 21). A full business and regulatory impact assessment of the effect these Regulations will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from the Food Standards Agency in Scotland, 6th Floor, St Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen, AB11 6NJ, and online at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 “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