UK Offence Report

Penalties and enforcement

regulation 5(1) of The Milk and Dairies (Semi-skimmed and Skimmed Milk) (Heat Treatment and Labelling) 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 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 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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(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 Milk and Dairies (Semi-skimmed and Skimmed Milk) (Heat Treatment and Labelling) 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
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
15 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) Regulations 1986, 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 and 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 and tests (regulation 3(2)(c) and Schedule 3) and for labelling (regulation 4 and Schedule 4). The heat treatment requirements of the Regulations apply only to imported bulk milk, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk imported for delivery as such to consumers being exempt from such requirements (regulation 7). In addition to drafting amendments, the Regulations make the following changes of substance:— a a sample of milk taken in specified circumstances is required to satisfy a coliform test in the case of pasteurised milk and a plate count test in the case of raw milk, bulk milk heat treated for transportation, pasteurised milk, sterilised milk and milk treated by the ultra high temperature method (regulation 3(2) and Schedule 2, Part I, paragraph A5, Part II, paragraph 4(1), Part III, paragraph 4, Schedule 3, Parts III and IV); in consequence, the colony count test prescribed by the 1986 Regulations has been omitted; b records are required to be kept of bulk milk purchased by milk processors or delivered to them other than by way of sale, and purchased and sold by milk purveyors (Schedule 1, paragraph 2(1) and (2)); c as pre-conditions for heat treatment of raw milk it is required that— i over the preceding two months not less than two samples taken each month of the producer’s milk have satisfied a prescribed average plate count; ii in the case of raw milk not heat treated within 36 hours, 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 5 and 6); d in any proceedings for a breach of the pre-conditions referred to in paragraph (c) above, evidence of a sample taken or of a plate count carried out in accordance with Part I or IV of Schedule 3, respectively, is to be preferred to evidence of a sample taken or of a plate count by any other method (Schedule 1, paragraph 7); e in continuous flow heat treatment apparatus, devices for the automatic diversion of milk not raised to the authorised temperature are required to record each operation automatically, and the records are required to be dated and preserved for a specified period (Schedule 2, Part I, paragraph A3, Part II, paragraph B3, Part III, paragraph 2); f in specified circumstances, a sample of milk to be subjected to a coliform or plate count test is required to be transported at a prescribed temperature (Schedule 3, Part I, paragraph 6). These Regulations apply only to England and Wales. 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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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