UK Offence Report

Powers of an inspector before transport begins

article 15(5) of The Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 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

5 It shall be an offence against the Act for any person to remove or deface any mark or other identification applied by an inspector under paragraph (1) above.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 article 15(5)?

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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994.

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
13 December 1994
In force from
23 January 1995
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.

(This note does not form part of the Order) This Order revokes and re-enacts with modifications the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992. Taken with other welfare legislation, it implements Council Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection of animals during transport (OJ No. L340, 11.12.91, p.17). The other legislation referred to is as follows— The Transit of Animals Order 1927 The Animals (Sea Transport) Order 1930 The Horses (Sea Transport) Order 1952 The Transit of Animals (General) Order 1973 The Transit of Animals (Road and Rail) Order 1975 The Importation of Animals Order 1977 The Welfare of Poultry (Transport) Order 1988. The Order makes general provision for the welfare of animals in transport (articles 3 and 4). It sets out feeding and watering intervals for animals in transport (article 5) and requires persons who transport animals in the course of business to ensure that animals are entrusted to people possessing the appropriate knowledge (article 6). It requires journey plans for certain journeys (article 7) and animal transport certificates for all others (article 8). There are exceptions in relation to pets and certain short journeys (articles 2 and 9). There are special provisions in relation to deer in velvet (article 3(4)). The Order refers to the guidelines issued by the International Air Transport Association (“IATA”) and under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (“CITES”) (article 10). Copies of the relevant documents can be obtained from— IATA Tabmag Publishing Ltd Grove House 31-37 Church Road Ashford Middlesex TW15 2UE Freight Merchandising Services c/o Vidap Freight Services Green Lane Hounslow Middlesex TW4 6DD Label Line Hollyhouse 14 Tenby Road Frimley Surrey GU16 5UT CITES Department of the Environment Tollgate House Houlton Street Bristol BS2 9DJ It prohibits importation of animals from third countries except under the conditions required by Directive 91/628/EEC (article 13). The Order is enforced by the local authorities (article 14). Inspectors are given power to stop a journey, where the animals' welfare requires it (articles 15 and 16). Ministry inspectors may take into account previous conduct of the transporter in exercising these powers (article 15(3)). Contravention of the provisions of the Order constitutes an offence under the Animal Health Act 1981 and may be punished under section 75 of the Act.

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.

Other offences in the same 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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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