UK Offence Report

Fresh fruits and vegetables other than potatoes

article 5(10) of The Weights and Measures Act 1963 (Cheese, Fish, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Meat and Poultry) Order 1984

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

10 Where at any premises other than a vehicle or ship any food to which this Article applies has been sold by weight when made up in a container, and the sale is otherwise than by retail, the buyer may require all or any of the following weighing to be carried out at those premises, that is to say— a a weighing of that container while the food is therein; b a weighing of that container after the removal of the food therefrom; c a weighing of a similar container which is empty, and thereupon the seller shall either carry out or permit the buyer to carry out the weighing or weighings so required; and if the seller without reasonable cause contravenes this requirement he shall be guilty of 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 seller
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 seller 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 5(10)?

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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Weights and Measures Act 1963 (Cheese, Fish, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Meat and Poultry) Order 1984, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 August 1984
In force from
1 September 1984
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 replaces Parts I, II, VII and XII of Schedule 4 to the Weights and Measures Act 1963 and the Weights and Measures Act 1963 (Cheese) Order 1977, which relate to the food covered by this Order. It also implements the requirements of Article 8 of Council Directive No. 79/112/EEC in relation to quantity marking in the case of such foods. From 1st January 1986 all cheese other than the cheese described in Article 4(5) to the Order, whole Stilton cheese and cheese in a quantity of less than 25 g or more than 10 kg may only be pre-packed if the container is marked with the quantity by net weight, unless it is sold by gross weight in a container which does not exceed the permitted weight for the container and the quantity is made known to the buyer before he pays for or takes possession of the goods. Subject to certain exceptions, other food to which the Order applies, other than fresh fruits and vegetables, may only be prepacked if the container is marked with an indication of quantity by net weight. Subject to certain exceptions, fruits and vegetables, other than soft fruits and mushrooms, may only be prepacked if the container is marked with an indication of quantity by net weight or, in the case of countable produce, either by net weight or by number: If not pre-packed they must be sold by retail only by net weight or, in the case of countable produce, either by net weight or number. Subject to certain exceptions, soft fruits and mushrooms may only be sold by retail by net weight, or by gross weight if the container does not exceed the permitted weight for the container, and the quantity must be made known to the buyer before he pays for or takes possession of the goods. Transitional provisions are also included in the Order to allow time for goods, which comply with the provisions of the Act or the Weights and Measures Act 1963 (Cheese) Order 1977, to be sold by manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers, notwithstanding that the goods do not comply with this Order.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of 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