UK Offence Report

Penalties and enforcement

regulation 17(1) of The Meat Inspection Regulations 1987

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

1 If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of these Regulations he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

a on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding £2,000; and

b on conviction on indictment, to

a fine or imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 17(1)?

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 Meat Inspection Regulations 1987, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£2,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
10 December 1987
In force from
5 February 1988
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, which apply to England and Wales only, come into force on 5th February 1988. They re-enact with amendments the Meat Inspection Regulations 1963, as amended. The principal changes are— a the substitution in the definition of “animals” of the words “bovine animals (including buffalo)” and “solipeds” for the words “cattle” and “horses” respectively (regulation 2); b the relaxation of the restriction on removal of parts from a carcase so as to allow heads of sheep and goats and penises to be discarded, in specified circumstances, immediately after slaughter (regulation 8(3)); c the replacement of Schedule 1 with a new Schedule which specifies in seven parts the requirements for inspections of carcases. Part I sets out the general instructions; Part II, III, IV, V and VI contain the detailed instructions for bovine animals over six weeks old, bovine animals under six weeks old, swine, sheep and goats, and solipeds, respectively; and Part VII contains the additional instructions where tuberculosis is suspected. The Regulations— i require local authorities to inspect carcases of animals slaughtered for human consumption and enable them to control the times of slaughter (regulations 3 and 4); ii prescribe the requirements as to prior notification to local authorities of intention to slaughter, as to dressing of carcases and as to notification to local authorities of any disease or unsoundness in a carcase (regulations 5, 6 and 7); iii impose restrictions on the removal of carcases, blood and offal until passed as fit for human consumption and on the use of slaughterhouses in respect of animals not intended for human consumption (regulations 8 and 9); iv make provision for the inspection of carcases, offal and blood and the marking of carcases (regulations 10, 11 and 12 and Schedules 1, 2 and 3); v make provision for charging by local authorities for meat inspections and for notices, assistance to inspectors and enforcement (regulations 15 to 17).

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 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