UK Offence Report

2 Any person who lands or attempts to land an animal in Great Britain in contravention of Article 3(1)…

article 21(2) of The Importation of Animals Order 1977

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 Any person who lands or attempts to land an animal in Great Britain in contravention of Article 3(1) above, or who contravenes any other provision of this order, or any provision of an import licence or other licence issued or notice served under it, or who fails to comply with any such provision, or with any condition subject to which such

a licence is issued, or subject to which any authority, direction or consent under this order is given, or who causes or permits any such landing or attempted landing, or any such contravention or non-compliance, commits an offence against the Act.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 a condition of a licence, permit or consent
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 article 21(2)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person causes or permits any such landing or attempted landing, or any such contravention or non-compliance.
  2. Holding a valid licence but doing the thing it allows outside the hours, place or limits its conditions set under the Importation of Animals Order 1977.
  3. Failing to do something a condition positively requires - a record, a notification, a monitoring step - even though the licensed activity itself is carried on properly.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Classical Swine Fever (Scotland) Order 2003 (revoked)
Revoked on
10 September 2003
Made
25 May 1977
In force from
1 July 1977
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

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

This Order, made under the Diseases of Animals Act 1950, as amended by the Diseases of Animals Act 1975, replaces previous orders regulating the importation into Great Britain of all ruminating animals and swine. It prohibits the landing of such animals except under a licence granted by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in relation to England and Wales, and by the Secretary of State in relation to Scotland. A licence may be general or specific, and may contain conditions designed to prevent animal diseases from being introduced into or spread within Great Britain, and to protect imported animals from unnecessary suffering. A licence is also required for animals on board a vessel which enters a harbour in Great Britain even if the animals are not to be landed. After landing, imported animals must be moved to an approved reception centre for resting, or to approved quarantine premises for detention for the period specified in the relevant import licence, before they are permitted to proceed to their final destination in Great Britain. Whether or not imported animals are required by the import licence to be detained at approved quarantine premises will depend on the disease risk involved in importing the animals to which the licence relates. Detailed requirements are laid down regarding the action to be taken in case of injury, death or disease among animals being carried to Great Britain, and with regard to their unloading on arrival. Veterinary inspectors (of the Ministry) may regulate unloading, and inspectors (of the Ministry or of a local authority) are empowered to require the cleansing and disinfection of any vessels, aircraft, vehicles or containers which have brought animals to Great Britain, or which have come to Great Britain contaminated with animal matter. Reception centres and quarantine premises must be approved by licence of the Minister or the Secretary of State, and such licences may be conditional. Additionally, approved premises are subject to control by veterinary inspectors. Where disease is found among imported animals, veterinary inspectors may require them to be slaughtered, re-exported or detained subject to such conditions as they may prescribe, and similar powers are given to inspectors in relation to animals in respect of which there has been a breach of the order or of a licence. In both cases, the Minister and the Secretary of State have power to slaughter without payment of compensation. Where disease is found among animals at approved premises, veterinary inspectors may impose conditions with regard to the premises and their use. Wide default powers are provided, enabling local authorities and persons acting on behalf of the appropriate Minister to ensure that the requirements of the order, and of licences issued, notices served and directions given under it, are properly carried out. Local authorities and Ministers are empowered to recover reasonable expenses thus incurred. The Order provides the option of prosecution on indictment, in accordance with section 3 of the Diseases of Animals Act 1975, in relation to certain offences involving intent to evade its provisions. Local authorities are made responsible for enforcing the order. Schedule 1 amends certain orders relating to animal health so as to bring them into line with the new order. Schedule 2 lists further orders which will now only apply to imported animals after they are eligible under the order to be moved out of approved premises. Schedule 3 deals with revocations.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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