UK Offence Report

Offences by bodies corporate etc.

regulation 42(1) of The Water Intended for Human Consumption (Private Supplies) (Scotland) Regulations 2017

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 these Regulations 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 of 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 42(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 Water Intended for Human Consumption (Private Supplies) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

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
5 September 2017
In force from
27 October 2017
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 aim to protect human health from the adverse effects of any contamination of water intended for human consumption by ensuring that the water meets water quality standards. Except where stated otherwise, these Regulations do not apply in relation to the categories of water intended for human consumption specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (h) of regulation 2(1). In particular, these Regulations do not apply in relation to (among other things)— water which is regulated by the Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014; water which is exempt by virtue of regulation 2(4); and water which is regulated by specified provisions of the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2007. These Regulations replace (and partly re-enact with modifications) the provisions of the Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2006 so far as they applied to a ‘Type A supply’, pursuant to the further implementation of— Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption including, in particular, the amendments made by Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 amending Annexes II and III to Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption; and Council Directive 2013/51/EURATOM laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption. Except where the contrary intention appears, in so far as a thing done (such as a sample taken or a failure investigated) or having effect as if so done under a provision of the Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2006 could have been done under the re-enacted provision (modified or not), that thing has effect as if done under that re-enacted provision. Part 1 makes general provision for citation, commencement, extent, application, interpretation, etc. Part 2 makes provision in relation to a register of supply systems, etc. Part 3 makes provision in relation to the risk assessment of water supplies. Part 4 makes provision in relation to water quality standards and duties. Part 5 makes provision in relation to monitoring and analysis. Part 6 makes provision in relation to investigation and remedial action. Part 7 makes provision in relation to information and reporting. Part 8 makes provision in relation to enforcement. Part 9 makes provision in relation to offences. Part 10 makes provision in relation to other enactments. A business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations. A copy of this may be obtained from the Scottish Government, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ 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