15 A person shall be guilty of an offence against the Act who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of…

article 15 of The Blue Eared Pig Disease Order 1991

• Revoked
• Strict liability
• Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlife

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

15 A person shall be guilty of an offence against the Act who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him—

a contravenes article 4(1), 4(2), 6(3), 7(2), 12(1), 12(2) or 13(2); or

b fails to comply with any notice issued under article 5(3),

8 or 10(1); or

c contravenes the provisions of any licence issued under article 7(2)(a),

8 or 12(c); or

d alters, removes or defaces any mark applied under article 6(2)(c) or 9; or

e fails to comply with any requirement contained in

a notice served under paragraph (1) or (3) or article

5 of article 7(2)(c); or

f causes or permits any such contravention or non-compliance.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

failing to comply with a notice or direction

Fault element

Strict liability

Burden of proof

An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

A person shall be guilty of an offence against the Act who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes article 4(1), 4(2), 6(3), 7(2), 12(1), 12(2) or 13(2); or b fails to comply with any notice issued under article 5(3), 8 or 10(1); or c contravenes the provisions of any licence issued under article 7(2)(a), 8 o

What would breach article 15?

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. Being served with a notice under the Blue Eared Pig Disease Order 1991 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
2. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
3. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

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.

• Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017

  Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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

Revoked

Revoked by

The Blue Eared Pig Disease (Revocation) Order 1992

Made

13 June 1991

In force from

13 June 1991

Extent

Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order provides for controls in relation to Blue Eared Pig Disease. It requires that where certain persons suspect the disease is present they are to give notice to the Divisional Veterinary Officer and to ensure that no suspected pig or pig carcase moves from premises affected (article 4). The Order enables a veterinary inspector to declare premises to be an infected place whereupon detailed restrictions concerning movement of persons, pigs and things on to or off the premises apply (article 5 and Schedule 1). Restrictions may also be imposed on premises which are exposed to infection (article 7). It also requires a veterinary inspector to inquire into the existence of the disease and gives him powers to examine, take samples from and mark pigs or carcases for the purposes of such an inquiry (article 6). The Order also enables a veterinary inspector to prohibit or control the movement of pigs, carcases and things, for the marking of pigs and for the cleansing and disinfection of premises (articles 8, 9 and 10). It further enables the Minister to declare an area to be an infected area from which movement of pigs is regulated (articles 11 and 12). Contravention of certain provisions of the Order or of notices or licences issued under it is an offence under the Animal Health Act 1981.

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

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• The Blue Eared Pig Disease Order 1991 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlifeOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 1991