UK Offence Report

1 Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes or fails to…

regulation 7(1) of The Batteries and Accumulators (Containing Dangerous Substances) Regulations 1994

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 Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of regulation

3 above or any notice served pursuant to regulation

6 above within the period specified in that notice shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding level

1 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of regulation 3 above or any notice served pursuant to regulation 6 above within the period specified in that notice shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not excee

What would breach regulation 7(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 Batteries and Accumulators (Containing Dangerous Substances) Regulations 1994, 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
£200
Standard scale
Level 1
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
2 February 1994
In force from
Not determined
Extent
E+W+S

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 implement Council Directive 91/157/EEC on batteries and accumulators containing more than specified levels of dangerous substances (mercury, cadmium or lead) and Commission Directive 93/86/EEC which provides symbols to indicate the separate collection of such batteries and accumulators as well as the relevant chemical symbol to indicate their heavy metal content. The Regulations extend to Great Britain. Regulation 4 requires the marking of such batteries and accumulators (or, in appropriate cases, the packaging) with a separate collection mark and the relevant heavy metal content mark. In the case of a battery or accumulator manufactured in Great Britain for sale in the Community, the obligation is placed on the manufacturer; if that is not the case, the obligation is placed on the manufacturer’s authorised representative established in Great Britain or the person in Great Britain placing the battery or accumulator on the market. The marking requirements do not apply to batteries or accumulators which are marketed in Great Britain before 1st January 1996 provided they have been manufactured or imported into the Community before regulation 4 comes into force. Regulation 5(1) requires manufacturers to ensure that such a battery or accumulator can be readily removed, when spent, by a consumer from appliances (other than those referred to in Schedule 1 to the Regulations) into which it has been incorporated. Regulation 5(2) requires excluded appliances (referred to in Schedule 1) to be accompanied by instructions as regards the matters specified in this provision. Under regulation 6, the Secretary of State may give notice if a battery or accumulator, to which the Regulations relate, is not marked in accordance with regulation 4 or an appliance or excluded appliance does not meet the requirements of regulation 5 which apply to it. In the event of a failure to comply with such a notice, in the absence of any reasonable excuse the person on whom it is served will be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale (regulation 7). In addition, regulation 8 provides for offences by corporations. The alternative separate collection marks are set out in Schedule 2. The detailed provisions as to the size and place both for a separate collection mark and for the relevant heavy metal content mark are contained in Schedule 3. In addition, regulation 3 prohibits the marketing of certain alkaline manganese batteries containing mercury; anyone breaching that regulation will be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine, not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale, under regulation 7. Regulation 8 would also apply in those circumstances. The Regulations come into force on 1st March 1994 except for the marking requirements (regulation 4 and, to the extent that it applies to regulation 4, regulation 6) which come into force on 1st August 1994. A Compliance Cost Assessment in respect of these Regulations is available and a copy can be obtained from Environment Division, Department of Trade and Industry, Desk 3/096, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SS.

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