UK Offence Report

20 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes any…

article 20 of The Welfare of Poultry (Transport) Order 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

20 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him—

a contravenes any provision of this Order or any provision of

a notice served under it; or

b fails to comply with any such provision or with any condition of any such notice; or

c knowingly causes or permits any such contravention or non-compliance, commits an offence against the Act.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

20 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes any provision of this Order or any provision of a notice served under it; or b fails to comply with any such provision or with any condition of any such notice; or c knowingly causes or permits any such contrave

What would breach article 20?

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 Welfare of Poultry (Transport) Order 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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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 May 1988
In force from
30 May 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order, which applies throughout Great Britain, contains provisions relating to the welfare of poultry during their transport by road, rail, air and water which replace (1) provisions contained in the Conveyance of Live Poultry Order of 1919 which are revoked and (2) provisions contained in the Transit of Animals Order 1973, as amended, which are disapplied by this Order. The Order also implements the provisions of Council Directive 77/489/EEC (OJ No. L200, 8.8.77, p.10) on the protection of animals during international transport which relate to the transport of poultry in respect of which those Orders do not at present make specific provision. The main provisions of the Order are as follows:— a the transport of poultry on a vessel or aircraft is prohibited unless the poultry are contained in a receptacle (except where poultry are transported on a vehicle which is itself transported on a vessel) (article 4); b requirements are contained in the Order relating to the construction and maintenance of vessels, aircraft and vehicles on which poultry are transported and of receptacles used for the transport of poultry on vessels (article 5); c the loading of poultry into, and the unloading of poultry from, a vessel, aircraft or vehicle and the transport of poultry on a vessel, aircraft or vehicle in a way which causes, or is likely to cause, the poultry injury or unnecessary suffering is prohibited and a duty is imposed on a person in charge of poultry to ensure that, during their journey, certain requirements are complied with, for example that the poultry are sheltered from the weather, have an adequate supply of fresh air and are not overcrowded (article 6); d a duty is imposed on any person in charge of any poultry which are being transported on a vessel, aircraft or vehicle in the course of international transport (being any movement which involves or is intended to involve the crossing of a frontier) to ensure that certain requirements are complied with, for example that suitable food and, if necessary, water is available in adequate quantities and that where a vehicle is used for transporting the poultry it is equipped with a roof which will ensure that the poultry are effectively protected against the weather (article 7); e poultry are required to be separated during transport according to species and sex (subject to certain exceptions) (article 9); f a person who is for the time being in charge of a vehicle used for the transport of poultry by road is required to make a record of such transport and to ensure that, while the vehicle is being used for the transport of poultry, the record is kept in the vehicle (article 13); and the owner or other person in charge of any poultry transported by rail is required to ensure that the receptacle containing the poultry bears a label containing specified information (article 14); g an inspector of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or of the local authority is empowered to require (by notice) any poultry to be unloaded from a vessel, aircraft, vehicle or receptacle or, in the case of poultry waiting to be loaded into a vessel, aircraft, vehicle or receptacle, to prohibit them from being so loaded and an inspector is also empowered, to require (by notice) any poultry to be unloaded from a vessel, aircraft or vehicle and removed to a specified place and detained there pending examination by a veterinary inspector (article 15); h an exemption from the provisions of article 5(2)(e) (labelling of receptacles) and of articles 13 and 14 (records in respect of poultry carried by road and rail) is provided in the case of the transport of any consignment of less than 50 birds and the transport of poultry within the boundaries of a farm (article 16(1)); i the provisions of the Transit of Animals (General) Order 1973, as amended, are disapplied in relation to poultry, that is to say domestic fowls, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea-fowls, pheasants, partridges and quails (article 21(2)); and j as a consequence of the revocation of the Conveyance of Live Poultry Order of 1919 (article 22) the Poultry (Exposure for Sale) Order of 1937 is amended so as to protect poultry during their exposure for sale (article 21(1)).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 “commits 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