UK Offence Report

Penalty for excess in stock of wholesaler or retailer of spirits

article 68 of The Alcoholic Liquors (Amendment of Enactments Relating to Strength and to Units of Measurement) Order 1979

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

68 If at any time on the taking of an account by an officer of the spirits in the stock or possession of

a wholesaler or retailer of spirits the quantity of alcohol in those spirits is found to exceed the quantity of alcohol which ought to be in his possession according to any stock book required under this Act to be kept by the wholesaler or retailer, such

a quantity of spirits as contains an amount of alcohol equal to the excess shall be liable to forfeiture and the wholesaler or retailer shall be liable on summary conviction to

a penalty of double the duty at the highest rate on

a quantity of alcohol equal to the excess.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 68?

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 Alcoholic Liquors (Amendment of Enactments Relating to Strength and to Units of Measurement) Order 1979.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 March 1979
In force from
1 January 1980
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.

This Order is made in conformity with Council Directives 76/765/EEC and 76/766/EEC. It amends the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 and other enactments so as to replace, for the purposes of such enactments, the proof system of ascertaining the alcoholic strength of spirits and other liquids by the OIML (Organisation Internationale de Metrologie Legale) system of measurement by reference to percentages of alcohol by volume. For the purposes of such enactments to the extent that they are concerned with alcoholic liquors, the Order also replaces any temperatures expressed in degrees Fahrenheit by temperatures expressed in degrees Celsius and any units of measurement expressed in Imperial terms by metric units of measurement; expresses existing rates of duty in metric terms and, in the case of spirits, by reference to the alcohol contained in such spirits; and provides that where the quantity of any spirits or methylated spirits was last computed before 1st January 1980 and falls to be computed again on or after 1st January 1980, it shall, unless the Commissioners of Customs and Excise otherwise require, be computed by conversion of gallons at proof to litres of alcohol using a specified conversion factor. The amendment of any enactment by the Order is such as to preserve the effect of that enactment except to the extent necessary to enable substituted units or methods of measurement to be applied in a convenient and suitable manner.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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