UK Offence Report

b shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two…

regulation 13(b) of The Medicines (Labelling of Medicinal Products for Incorporation in Animal Feeding Stuffs and of Medicated Animal Feeding Stuffs) Regulations 1988

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

b shall be liable on conviction on indictment to

a fine or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or to 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 13(b)?

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 Medicines (Labelling of Medicinal Products for Incorporation in Animal Feeding Stuffs and of Medicated Animal Feeding Stuffs) Regulations 1988.

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
6 June 1988
In force from
7 July 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 consolidate with amendments the Medicines (Labelling of Medicated Animal Feeding Stuffs) Regulations 1973 and that part of the Medicines (Labelling) Regulations 1976, as amended, (“the 1976 Regulations”) which dealt with medicinal products for incorporation in animal feeding stuffs and medicated animal feeding stuffs in respect of which a product licence or an animal test certificate had been granted under the Medicines Act 1968. The 1976 Regulations implemented in part Council Directive 81/851/EEC (OJ No. L317, 6.11.81, p.1) on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to veterinary medicinal products. These Regulations impose detailed requirements relating to the labelling of containers and packages of such medicinal products and medicated feeding stuffs which are sold or supplied in the United Kingdom in the course of a business or are in the possession of any person for the purpose of sale or supply in the United Kingdom (regulation 3). The Regulations— a prescribe standard labelling requirements in respect of medicinal products and excepted medicated feeding stuffs (regulation 4 and Schedule 2) and other medicated feeding stuffs (regulation 5 and Schedule 3); b prescribe special labelling requirements in respect of— i medicinal products and medicated feeding stuffs for administration in medicinal tests on animals (regulation 6 and Schedule 4); ii certain medicinal products exempt from product licences and medicated feeding stuffs in which such products have been incorporated (regulation 7); c make provision for the sale or supply of medicinal products and medicated feeding stuffs not enclosed in a container, if specified particulars are set out in an accompanying leaflet (regulation 8); d impose general requirements relating to such matters as the manner of labelling (regulation 9), prohibit the removal of labels in certain circumstances (regulation 10), provide exemptions (regulation 11) and transitional provisions (regulation 12) and create offences (regulation 13). The principal changes of substance effected by these Regulations are— a the requirement to specify in certain cases a withdrawal period or standard withdrawal period before an animal treated with a medicated feeding stuff is slaughtered for human consumption and before products derived from such an animal are taken for human consumption (regulations 2(1) and 7(2), Schedule 1, Schedule 2, paragraph 11 and Schedule 3, paragraph 7); b the increase of the maximum fine which may be imposed on summary conviction for an offence against the Regulations or against certain provisions of the Medicines Act 1968 relating to labelling from £400 to £2,000 (regulation 13(a)).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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