UK Offence Report

Offences, penalties and enforcement

regulation 32(1) of The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Scotland) Regulations 1990

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 provision of these Regula tions, or knowingly or recklessly makes

a false entry in any document required by these Regulations, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable–

a on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; or

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, 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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

The defence, as drafted

3 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

What would breach regulation 32(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 Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Scotland) Regulations 1990.
  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
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
26 January 1990
In force from
30 January 1990
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, which apply to Scotland only, come into force on 30th January 1990. The Regulations apply to the brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsils and intestines of bovine animals slaughtered in the United Kingdom (“specified bovine offal”). They do not apply to specified bovine offal of bovine animals not more than 6 months old when slaughtered and to specified bovine offal which is to be removed from any place by, or under the authority of, a veterinary surgeon for examination by him or on his behalf (regulation 3). These Regulations– a prohibit the sale or use in food for sale for human consumption of any specified bovine offal (regulation 4); b require, subject to certain exemptions (regulations 11 and 12), any specified bovine offal to be either stained or sterilised at a slaughterhouse, knacker’s yard or dead stock collection centre (regulation 5-10); c provide for exemption for destinations to which any specified bovine offal may be consigned without being stained (regulation 11); d provide for exemption for destinations to which any specified bovine offal may be consigned without being sterilised (regulation 12); e require the occupier of a specialist boning plant receiving a bovine head, from which the brain has not been removed, to sterilise or stain the skull immediately after removal of the meat (regulation 13); f prohibit the freezing of specified bovine offal unless it has been stained or sterilised except when it is to be delivered to a specified destination (regulation 14); g prohibit, subject to certain exemptions, the removal of any unstained or unsterilised specified bovine offal from a place other than a slaughterhouse, knacker’s yard or dead stock collection centre (regulation 15); h prohibit the bringing in of specified bovine offal from England, Wales or Northern Ireland unless it is to be consigned to certain destinations (regulation 16); i specify the content of records which must be kept and the consignment notes which must accompany the movement of unsterilised specified bovine offal from a slaughterhouse, knacker’s yard, dead stock collection centre or other premises (regulations 17–22); j set out the procedure to be followed when there is a change in the destination of a consignment of unsterilised specified bovine offal (regulation 23); k require the occupier of any premises from which specified bovine offal is to be consigned to England, Wales or Northern Ireland to notify the local authority who in turn should inform the receiving local authority (regulation 24); l require consignments of specified bovine offal from England, Wales or Northern Ireland to be accompanied by appropriate movement documents (regulation 25); m specify the requirements for transport, storage and packaging of specified bovine offal (regulations 26–28); n prohibit, subject to exemptions, the possession of specified bovine offal (regulation 29); o empower an authorised officer of a local authority to examine any meat or offal which he has reason to believe is specified bovine offal and to seize it if it has not been dealt with in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations (regulation 30); p empower an authorised officer of a local authority to examine any records or consignment notes (regulation 31); q make provision for offences, penalties and enforcement (regulation 32); r make provision for a defence of due diligence in proceedings against any person accused of an offence under these Regulations (regulation 33); and s provide for the application of specified provisions of the Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956 (regulation 34).

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