UK Offence Report

Offences and Penalties

regulation 6(1) of The Fertilisers (Mammalian Meat and Bone Meal) (Conditions of Manufacture) Regulations 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

1 It shall be an offence for a person without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with the provisions of regulations 3 and 5 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (intentionally) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

“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: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses intentionally; which element that governs was not determined; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 It shall be an offence for a person without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with the provisions of regulations 3 and 5 above.

What would breach regulation 6(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Fertilisers (Mammalian Meat and Bone Meal) (Conditions of Manufacture) Regulations 1998, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1998-04-30); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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 April 1998
In force from
30 April 1998
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 give effect in part to Commission Decision 96/449/EC on the approval of alternative heat treatment systems for processing animal waste with a view to the inactivation of spongiform encephalopathy agents (OJ No. L184, 24.7.96, p.43). They provide that no person may manufacture mammalian meat and bone meal for use as or in fertilisers unless the mammalian meat and bone meal is subjected to certain minimum process conditions (which reflect the requirements of Decision 96/449) (regulation 3). The Regulations— a make provision for the appointment by the appropriate Minister or the local authority of authorised officers for the purposes of the Regulations (regulation 9); b provide powers of inspection for such officers (regulation 4) and prohibit the obstruction of and other activities in relation to such officers acting in execution of these Regulations (regulation 5); c provide offences and penalties (regulations 6 to 8); and d provide that the Regulations shall be enforced by the local authority, subject to a power of the appropriate Minister to direct that in relation to a particular case or class of cases that enforcement be undertaken by him and not by the local authority (regulation 10). A Regulatory Appraisal for these Regulations has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Food Contaminants Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

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 0.90.

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