UK Offence Report

2 A person who packages relevant oil to which Article 4 applies shall be guilty of an offence if packaging…

regulation 4(2) of The Olive Oil (Designations of Origin) Regulations 1999

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

2 A person who packages relevant oil to which Article 4 applies shall be guilty of an offence if packaging takes place other than in an establishment which is approved in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 4.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 4(2)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person packages relevant oil to which Article 4 applies.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Olive Oil (Designations of Origin) Regulations 1999.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1999-06-30); 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
27 May 1999
In force from
30 June 1999
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, which apply to Great Britain, provide for the enforcement and execution of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2815/98 (OJ No. L349, 24.12.98, p.56) as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 640/1999 (OJ No. L82, 26.3.1999, p.8) (together hereinafter referred to as “Regulation 2815/98”). The Regulations– a exempt from their application products that have been lawfully manufactured and labelled in the Community or lawfully imported into the Community and placed in free circulation before 30th June 1999 (regulation 3); b provide that it is an offence to sell– i olive oil or olive residue oil, other than extra virgin or virgin olive oil, if its packaging bears a designation of origin; or ii extra virgin or virgin olive oil if– aa its packaging bears a designation of origin which contravenes Article 2 or 3 of Regulation 2815/98; or bb its packaging contravenes Article 4.3 of that Regulation (regulation 4(1) and (3)); c provide that it is an offence to package oil other than in an approved establishment or to operate an approved establishment when not in compliance with the second and third indents of Article 4.2 of Regulation 2815/98 (regulation 4(2) and (4)); d prescribe penalties and make provision in respect of Scottish partnerships (regulation 4(5) and (6)); e provide for establishments to be allocated an identification and approved for the packaging of virgin or extra virgin olive oil pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation 2815/98 and specify the circumstances in which that allocation of identification and approval may be suspended or withdrawn (regulation 5); and f apply specified provisions of the Olive Oil (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1987 and the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulation 6). No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 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