UK Offence Report

Offences by bodies corporate

article 8 of The Plant Health (Forestry) ( Phytophthora ramorum Management Zone) (Scotland) Order 2014

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

8 Where— a an offence under article 7 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 in the capacity 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (intentionally) - 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: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses intentionally; which element that governs was not determined; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

What would breach article 8?

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 Plant Health (Forestry) ( Phytophthora ramorum Management Zone) (Scotland) Order 2014.

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
2 May 2014
In force from
5 June 2014
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order gives plant health inspectors in Scotland additional powers to those conferred on them by the Plant Health (Forestry) (Phytophthora ramorum) (Great Britain) Order 2004 for the purpose of containing within and eradicating from an area within the local government areas of Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire (the “management zone”) the tree pest Phytophthora ramorum, Werres, De Cock and Man in ‘t Veld sp. nov.. Article 3(1) prohibits a person from moving susceptible material from within the management zone to outside the zone unless the movement is to an approved facility for the purposes of processing the material. In addition, under article 3(2) records must be kept of the movement of such material and information provided when requested to do so by an inspector. Article 4 makes provision for the approval of facilities. Article 5 makes provision for the suspension and revocation of such approvals. Article 6 provides an inspector with powers to enter premises for the purpose of investigating compliance with article 3. Article 7 provides that a person commits an offence who, without reasonable excuse, moves susceptible material in contravention of article 3(1), fails to keep a record of any such movement, fails to provide this record to an inspector who requests it, in contravention of article 3(2) or intentionally obstructs an inspector in the exercise of powers conferred under article 6. Article 8 makes provision for the commission of offences by corporate bodies. Article 9 specifies the penalties for offences. A map depicting the management zone is also available at www.scotland.forestry.gov.uk and copies may be inspected between 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., Monday to Friday at the following offices of the Forestry Commission Scotland— Silvan House, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 7AT; and Greystone Park, Moffat Road, Dumfries DG1 1NP A copy of the map is provided for illustrative purposes only in Part 2 of Schedule 2. A business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and is available at the Forestry Commission Scotland, Silvan House, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 7AT and online at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 “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