UK Offence Report

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

article 10 of The Sheep and Goats Spongiform EncephalopathyOrder 1998

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

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

a contravenes or fails to comply with article 3(1), (2) or (4), 4(5) or 9;

b fails to comply with any notice served under article 4(1), 5(1) or 6(1);

c fails to comply with any condition of

a licence issued under article 4(3)(b) or 5(1); or

d knowingly causes or permits any such contravention or non-compliance, commits an offence against the Act.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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

The defence, as drafted

10 Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, proof of which shall lie on him— a contravenes or fails to comply with article 3(1), (2) or (4), 4(5) or 9; b fails to comply with any notice served under article 4(1), 5(1) or 6(1); c fails to comply with any condition of a licence issued under article 4(3)

What would breach article 10?

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 Sheep and Goats Spongiform EncephalopathyOrder 1998 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.

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
7 July 1998
In force from
29 July 1998
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, which extends to Great Britain, gives effect in part to articles 2(1) and article 3 of Commission Decision 98/272/EEC (OJ No. L122, 24.4.98, p.59) on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. The Order also makes related provision to control transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in sheep and goats. Article 3 of the Order makes provision for the compulsory notification of any transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in sheep and goats. Article 4 makes provision for restrictions on movement of sheep and goats which are affected or suspected of being affected with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and the imposition of requirements in relation to these animals. Article 5 provides for restrictions on movement of sheep and goats which are not affected or suspected animals and article 6 provides for the cleansing and disinfection of premises and equipment. Article 7 provides for the application of section 32 of the Animal Health Act 1981 (slaughter of animals) and article 8 provides for the seizure of carcases for the purposes of preventing the spread of the disease and the provision of compensation. Article 9 provides for production of licences, article 10 for offences and article 11 for enforcement; article 12 makes a consequential amendment. A Regulatory Appraisal for this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Animal Health (BSE) 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

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