Offences: authorised grading methods (pig carcases)

Q: Is regulation 22A of The Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 a strict liability offence?

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.

regulation 22A of The Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018

Status not determined
Strict liability
Agriculture, plant health, food production and rural affairs

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

22A If classification of
a pig carcase is carried out at an approved slaughterhouse—
a without using an authorised grading method provided for in Article
11 of the Commission Delegated Regulation; or
b without the operation of grading techniques, provided for in Article 11, by qualified personnel, both the person who carries out the classification and the operator of that slaughterhouse commit 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: 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 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 22A?

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.

On these words an offence is committed where a person carries out the classification and the operator of that slaughterhouse.
Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018.

Penalty

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

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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.

Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017
Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 31 May 2018
In force from: 11 July 2018
Extent: Not stated

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

These Regulations amend the Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (the “2010 Regulations”) consequent to the repeal of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008 (OJ L 337, 16.12.2008, p.3) (the “Commission Regulation”). These Regulations also implement provisions of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 (OJ L 171, 4.7.2017, p.74) (the “Commission Delegated Regulation”) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1184 (OJ L 171, 4.7.2017, p.103) (the “Commission Implementing Regulation”) which together replace the repealed Commission Regulation. Regulation 3 amends regulation 2 of the 2010 Regulations to update the necessary definitions which require updating as a result of the repeal and replacement of the Commission Regulation. Regulation 4 amends regulation 5 of the 2010 Regulations to amend the definition of “small-scale bovine operator” in terms permitted by the Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 5 amends regulation 6 to designate, where necessary, the Scottish Ministers as the competent authority for the purposes of bovine carcases under the Commission Implementing Regulation and the Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 6 substitutes a new regulation 7 of the 2010 Regulations on marking, to make provision for the exercise of the derogation provided for in Article 8(6)(b) of the Commission Delegated Regulation in respect of marking of bovine carcases. Regulations 7 and 8 amend regulations 8 and 9 of the 2010 Regulations to update references to the Commission Implementing Regulation and the Commission Delegated Regulation required as a result of the repeal and replacement of the Commission Regulation. Regulation 9 amends regulation 13 of the 2010 Regulations to amend the definition of “small-scale pig operator” in terms permitted by the Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 10 amends regulation 14 to designate, where necessary, the Scottish Ministers as the competent authority for the purposes of pig carcases under the Commission Implementing Regulation and Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 11 substitutes a new regulation 15 of the 2010 Regulations on marking to make provision for the exercise of the derogation provided for in Article 8(6)(a) of the Commission Delegated Regulation, in relation to pig carcases. Regulation 12 amends regulation 18 of the 2010 Regulations to update references to the Commission Implementing Regulation and the Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 13 amends regulation 19 of the 2010 Regulations to make consequential changes to the offence provisions taking into account the new provisions on marking. Regulation 14 amends regulations 20 and 21 of the 2010 Regulations to update the language on offences in line with current drafting practice. Regulation 15 amends regulation 22 of the 2010 Regulations and inserts a new regulation 22A into the 2010 Regulations. It has the effect that it is an offence for classification of a pig carcase to be carried out without using an authorised grading method provided for in Article 9(b) and Article 11 of the Commission Delegated Regulation. The words “automated grading equipment” in regulation 22 of the 2010 Regulations, which relate to bovine carcases, are substituted by “automated grading method” to reflect the terms of Article 11 of the Commission Delegated Regulation. Regulation 15 also updates the language in regulation 22 of the 2010 Regulations on offences in line with current drafting practice. Regulation 16 amends regulation 23 of the 2010 Regulations to update references to the Commission Delegated Regulation and also updates the language on offences in line with current drafting practice. Regulations 17, 19 and 20 amend regulations 24, 26 and 28 of the 2010 Regulations to update the language on offences in line with current drafting practice and to reflect the introduction of regulation 23(3) of the 2010 Regulations by regulation 16 of these Regulations. Regulation 18 amends regulation 25 of the 2010 Regulations to make consequential changes to the 2010 Regulations to include references to the new regulation 22A, as inserted by regulation 15 of these Regulations. Regulation 23 makes transitional provision, the effect of which is that licences granted under the regulation 9 of the 2010 Regulations remain valid when these Regulations come into force, notwithstanding the amendments made by regulation 8 of these Regulations. Schedules 1 and 2 of the 2010 Regulations are substituted by regulations 21 and 22 respectively, and provide for updated references to the Commission Implementing Regulation and the Commission Delegated Regulation. Further minor amendments to the 2010 Regulations are made. No business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations as no impact upon business, charities or voluntary bodies is foreseen.

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Agriculture, plant health, food production and rural affairsOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2018