UK Offence Report

1 Any person who— a imports milk in contravention of any requirement imposed by or under these Regulations;…

regulation 10(1) of The Importation of Milk (Scotland) 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

1 Any person who—

a imports milk in contravention of any requirement imposed by or under these Regulations;

b where milk is required by or under these Regulations to be dealt with by him, does not deal with that milk in accordance with that requirement; or

c in connection with the importation of milk, makes

a statement or uses

a document which he knows to be false in

a material particular or recklessly makes

a statement or uses

a document which is false in

a material particular; shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding £2,000.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (recklessly).

The provision gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: recklessly.

The defence, as drafted

e importation of milk which is unfit for human consumption, it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that at the time when he imported the milk he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that it was unfit for human consumption. 3 A prosecution may be brought under this regulation notwithstanding that action under regulation 6(

What would breach regulation 10(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Importation of Milk (Scotland) Regulations 1988.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

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
13 October 1988
In force from
16 November 1988
Extent
S

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 Scotland only, re-enact with amendments the Importation of Milk (Scotland) Regulations 1983, as amended. They make provision for the implementation of Council Directive No. 85/397/EEC on health and animal-health problems affecting intra-Community trade in heat-treated milk. The principal changes are that— a subject to compliance with specified requirements— i pasteurised milk, cream and milk-based drink, and ii milk in bulk as well as pre-packaged milk, may now be imported (regulation 4); b as from 1st January 1989, an importer whose importation of a consignment of milk is refused entry is permitted, in specified circumstances, to obtain the opinion of an expert (regulation 6 and Schedule 2, paragraph 4(4). Consequentially, regulation 2(1) contains new definitions, in particular of “bulk milk”, “pre-packaged milk” and “specified drinking milk” . The last expression comprises semi-skimmed milk, skimmed milk and standardised whole milk, the categories of drinking milk permitted to be imported in closed containers by the Regulations of 1983. The Regulations prohibit (regulation 3) the importation of milk, cream and milk-based drink into Scotland unless (regulation 4)- a it has been sterilised or pasteurised or heat-treated by the ultra high temperature method, b it comes from an EEC member state, c it is accompanied by an authorised certificate, d it is fit for human consumption, e it is imported through an authorised place of entry, and f it is imported, in the case of pasteurised milk, as pre-packaged milk or in a tanker which has been sealed by means of a watertight closure; in the case of sterilised milk, in the hermetically sealed container in which it was sterilised; and, in the case of milk which has been heat-treated by the ultra high temperature method, in the opaque containers in which it was packaged aseptically immediately after heat-treatment. Details of authorised certificates and authorised places of entry must be published by notice in the Edinburgh Gazette (regulations 4 and 5), and there is provision (regulation 5) for importation of particular consignments, subject to written authorisation by the Secretary of State, through a place of entry not listed in such a notice. Regulation 6 and Schedule 2 deal with the procedure for examination on importation under the supervision of authorised officers (that is to say officers authorised by local authorities (subject to the approval of the Secretary of State) or officers authorised directly by the Secretary of State). There is provision for reference of such an officer’s decision to a sheriff and, in the case of specified drinking milk or bulk milk, to obtain the opinion of an expert. An authorised officer’s powers of entry are set out in regulation 8. Regulation 7 and Schedule 3 adapt existing legislation to imported milk. As a result of this adaptation— a permitted imported pre-packaged milk which is- i standardised whole milk having a fat content of not less than the specified guideline figure, is exempt from the requirements of being sold under a special designation licence (Schedule 3, paragraph 2(a)), and ii milk-based drink, cream, semi-skimmed milk or skimmed milk, is exempt from domestic heat-treatment requirements (Schedule 3, paragraphs 2(b) and (c) and 4); b permitted imported bulk milk and cream may be domestically heat-treated to produce heat-treated cream (Schedule 3, paragraph 3(a)); and c permitted imported bulk milk and milk-based drink may be domestically heat-treated for use as milk-based drinks (Schedule 3, paragraph 3(b)). Offences against these Regulations are punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding £2,000 (regulation 10).

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 0.92.

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