UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 5 of The Milk and Dairies (Semi-skimmed and Skimmed Milk) (Heat Treatment) (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

5 If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of regulation 3, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable —

a on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

b on conviction on indictment to

a fine or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding one year 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 5?

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 Milk and Dairies (Semi-skimmed and Skimmed Milk) (Heat Treatment) (Scotland) Regulations 1988, 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)
1 year

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
14 December 1988
In force from
1 January 1989
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 re-enact with modifications the Milk and Dairies (Semi-skimmed and Skimmed Milk) (Heat Treatment and Labelling) (Scotland) Regulations 1974, as amended, and make provision for the implementation of Council Directive 85/397/EEC (OJ No. L226, 24.8.1985, p.13) on health and animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in heat-treated milk. The Regulations require that semi-skimmed milk or skimmed milk sold for human consumption shall have been heat treated in accordance with the Regulations (regulation 3 and Schedules 1 and 2). They include provision for sampling (regulation 3(2)(c) and Schedule 3) and for tests (regulation 3(2)(d) and Schedule 4). The Regulations do not apply to semi-skimmed and skimmed milk imported heat treated in closed containers for delivery as drinking milk to consumers (regulation 7). In addition to drafting amendments, it makes the following changes of substance:— a in addition to the requirement to keep records of the quantities of milk purchased and sold, every milk processor and every milk purveyor is required to keep records of milk delivered, other than by way of purchase or sale (Schedule 1, paragraph 2); b as pre-conditions for heat treatment of raw milk it is required that — i over the preceding two months not less than two samples of the producer’s milk have been taken each month and have satisfied a prescribed average plate count; ii in the case of raw milk not heat treated within 36 hours of arrival at the heat treatment establishment, steps have been taken to ensure a prescribed maximum plate count is not exceeded; and iii the results of such plate counts are recorded (Schedule 1, paragraphs 8 and 9); c in any proceedings for a breach of the pre-conditions referred to in paragraph (b) above, evidence of a sample taken or of a plate count carried out in accordance with Schedule 3 or Part I of Schedule 4, respectively, is to be preferred to evidence of a sample taken or of a plate count carried out by any other method (Schedule 1, paragraph 10); d a sample of milk taken in specified circumstances is required to satisfy a new plate count test (Schedule 2, Part I, paragraph A7, Part II, paragraph 6, Part III, paragraph A6 and Schedule 4, Part I); e in specified circumstances, a sample of milk which is to be subjected to a plate count or coliform test is required to be transported at a prescribed temperature (Schedule 3, paragraph 3(3)). Information as to British Standards referred to in these Regulations can be obtained by post from the British Standards Institution at Milton Keynes or from any of the Institution’s sales outlets.

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