UK Offence Report

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

article 21 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997

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

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

a contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Order;

b provides false information on any route plan (whether when submitted for approval, returned to the officer of the Minister after the journey or otherwise) or provides false information on any documentation carried pursuant to article 14;

c makes any entry in

a record or statement, or gives any information for the purposes of this Order which he knows to be false in any material particular or, for those purposes, recklessly makes

a statement or gives any information which is false in any material particular; or

d causes or permits any of the above, commits an offence against the Animal Health Act 1981.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

“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: recklessly; qualified by lawful excuse (an element).

The defence, as drafted

21 Any person who without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Order; b provides false information on any route plan (whether when submitted for approval, returned to the officer of the Minister after the journey or otherwise) o

What would breach article 21?

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 Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997.
  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
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
10 June 1997
In force from
1 July 1997
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 revokes and re-enacts with modifications the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order, 1994, as amended, and other animal welfare legislation, which together with that Order implemented Council Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection of animals during transport (OJ No. L340, 11.12.91, p.17). This Order implements that Directive as amended by Council Directive 95/29/EEC (OJ No. L18, 30.6.95, p.52). The extent of its application is set out (article 2). The Order makes general provision for the welfare of animals in transport. It includes provisions as to the means of transport or receptacles used (article 4), the amount of space available to each animal (article 5) and the fitness of animals to travel (article 6). It requires animals that fall ill or are injured in the course of transport to be treated (article 7). The Order contains requirements on the feeding and watering of animals before and during a journey and on journey times and rest periods (article 8). It requires persons who transport animals in the course of business to ensure that animals are accompanied by a person possessing appropriate knowledge and the ability to safeguard their welfare (article 9). Further duties on transporters are set out (article 10). The Order requires compliance with the guidelines issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (“CITES”) and the standards set by the International Air Transport Association (“IATA”) (article 11). The Order makes provision for the authorisation of transporters to transport vertebrate animals on journeys over 50 kilometres (article 12). It requires route plans for certain journeys and other documentation where no route plan is required (articles 13 and 14). The Order excepts certain journeys from certain of its provisions (article 15). It contains requirements relating to the transport of animals to and from third countries (article 16). The Order is enforced by local authorities (article 17). Inspectors are given powers to require compliance with the Order, including the power to stop a journey. Ministry inspectors may take into account a previous failure to comply with the Order, including a failure to submit a route plan, in exercising these powers (article 18). Owners or charterers of vessels used to transport animals are required to produce information on demand to an officer of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which may include a plan of the vessel (article 19). A contravention of any provision of the Order constitutes an offence against the Animal Health Act 1981 punishable in accordance with section 75 of the Act (article 21). A Compliance Cost Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Animal Welfare Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Government Buildings, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7NF.

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 0.92.

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