UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 23(3)(a) of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

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

a paragraph (1)(a) is liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale,

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 23(3)(a)?

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 Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year

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
17 February 2021
In force from
1 September 2021
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

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations provide for the licensing of persons who in Scotland carry on activities of selling animals as pets, rehoming animals as pets, operating animal welfare establishments (including sanctuaries and rehoming centres), breeding dogs, breeding cats and breeding rabbits (“the licensable activities”). Regulation 3 provides that a person must not carry on a licensable activity without the authority of a licence issued under these Regulations. Regulation 4 specifies the appropriate licensing authorities to which a person may apply for the grant or renewal of a licence and makes further provision about how applications must be made. For all activities except rehoming animals as pets, the licensing authority is the local authority for the area in which the activity is carried on. For the activity of rehoming animals as pets, the licensing authority is the local authority for the area in which the applicant resides or has a place of business (including a registered office or other official address) or, if the applicant has no such residence or place of business in Scotland, the Scottish Ministers. Regulation 5 makes provision regarding the extent of the authority arising from a licence issued under these Regulations. Part 3 of these Regulations sets out how a person may apply to the licensing authority for a licence, sets out matters in respect of which a licensing authority must be satisfied when considering the granting or renewing of a licence, and makes other provision in relation to licences. It provides for a licensing authority to charge fees to cover the costs it incurs in performing this function, anticipated costs of considering a licence holder’s compliance with these Regulations and the licence conditions to which a licence holder is subject, and anticipated costs of enforcement in relation to the activity of an unlicensed operator. It makes provision for the inspection of premises and gives inspectors powers to take samples from animals. Part 4 sets out the circumstances and procedures under which a licence may be suspended, varied or revoked. It also provides that breach of a licence condition (except one which is not a standard licence condition attached to all licences for the licensable activity), the carrying on of a licensable activity without the authority of a licence, failure to assist with in the taking of samples and obstruction of inspectors are all offences in the absence of a reasonable excuse. It also provides for offences in relation to provision of false or misleading information to inspectors and the making of false or misleading statements to a licensing authority for the purpose of obtaining or holding a licence. It also specifies maximum penalties for such offences and applies certain post-conviction powers contained in the Animal Health And Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. It also gives inspectors powers of entry for the purposes of preparing reports and of ascertaining compliance with these Regulations and licence conditions. Part 5 provides for appeals against licensing decisions by licensing authorities. Part 6 places a duty on each licensing authority to publish a register of licences for each licensable activity in relation to which it has issued a licence. Part 7 revokes the Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Young Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Part 8 makes transitional and saving provision for unexpired licences under pre-existing licensing regimes. Schedule 1 describes each licensable activity. Schedule 2 sets out the general licence conditions that apply to all licensable activities. Schedules 3 to 8 set out the specific conditions that apply to each licensable activity.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence
0.72 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