UK Offence Report

27 A person commits an offence if that person— a for the purpose of procuring the grant or amendment of a…

regulation 27 of The Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (Scotland) Regulations 2015

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

27 A person commits an offence if that person— a for the purpose of procuring the grant or amendment of a permit— i makes a statement which that person knows or suspects to be false or misleading in a material particular; or ii intentionally fails to disclose any material particular; b abandons, releases or allows to escape any aquatic organism, the movement of which took place under a permit or under a notice served under regulation 11(2) (movement of Annex IV species) unless that person can show that all reasonable steps were taken and due diligence exercised to avoid the abandonment or escape; c refuses, or fails, to comply with a requirement under regulation 24(5) (seizure of items) unless that person can show that that person had a reasonable excuse for failing to comply or refusing to comply; d refuses, or fails, to comply with an enforcement notice served under regulation 25(1) or (2) (enforcement notices) unless— i that person can show that the person had a reasonable excuse for failing to comply; or ii regulation 26(7) (appeals: enforcement notices) applies; e fails to comply with any direction requiring the disposal of aquatic organisms under regulation 6(3) (suspension of permit), 7(3) (revocation of permit), 13(3) (suspension of notice under regulation 11) or 14(3) (revocation of notice under regulation 11); f fails, without reasonable cause, to give an inspector any assistance or information which the inspector may reasonably require for the purposes of the inspector’s functions under these Regulations; g intentionally obstructs an inspector; h knowingly gives false or misleading information to an inspector; i fails to comply with regulation 9(2) or (4) (notification of movement of Annex IV species or translocation of locally absent species); or j fails to immediately implement an approved contingency plan as required by Article 17 of Council Regulation 708/2007 when a contingency event in that plan occurs.

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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, intentionally.

What would breach regulation 27?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

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
3 March 2015
In force from
3 April 2015
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 Regulation (EC) No. 708/2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture. A permit is required for the introduction of alien species for their use in aquaculture. Part 2 of these Regulations makes provision regarding the issue of permits, their amendment, suspension and revocation. Part 3 makes provision for the movement of those species listed in Annex IV to Council Regulation 708/2007 and the translocation of locally absent species within Scotland or to Scotland from another part of the United Kingdom. Part 4 makes provision for monitoring and risk assessment. Enforcement powers are given to inspectors under Part 5. Part 6 makes provision for offences and penalties. A person found guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine. Part 7 makes miscellaneous provisions concerning the disclosure of information between competent authorities in the United Kingdom and for the service of notices. The Regulatory Impact Assessment relating to these Regulations is available from Marine Scotland, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ.

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