UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Avian Influenza (H5N1 in Poultry) (England) Order 2006

the instrument as a whole of The Avian Influenza (H5N1 in Poultry) (England) Order 2006 (revoked)

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

73 of the Animal Health Act 1981. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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. Selling the goods under the Avian Influenza (H5N1 in Poultry) (England) Order 2006 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  2. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  3. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
5 December 2006
In force from
30 December 2006
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 transposes— a Commission Decision 2006/415/EC concerning certain protection measures in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza of subtype H5N1 in poultry in the Community and repealing Decision 2006/135/EC (OJ No. L 164, 16.6.2006, p. 51) (“the Commission Decision”), as amended by the Commission Decision amending Decisions 2006/415/EC, 2006/EC and 2006/563/EC as regards the health mark to be applied to fresh poultry meat adopted on 1st December 2006 (SANCO/10587/2006 Rev. 4); and b the Commission Decision establishing an alternative health mark pursuant to Directive 2002/99/EC, also adopted on 1st December 2006 (SANCO/10580/2006 Rev. 4). The Commission Decisions adopted on 1st December 2006 have not yet been published in the Official Journal of the European Union but are available at the addresses set out below. The Order supplements the general measures to control avian influenza set out in the Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (England) (No 2) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2702) (“the main Order”). Measures to control highly pathogenic avian influenza of subtype H5N1 in wild birds are set out in the Avian Influenza (H5N1 in Wild Birds) (England) Order 2006. Article 5 specifies which zones declared under the main Order are zones A and B for the purposes of the Commission Decision. Article 6 requires the Secretary of State to declare temporary control zones or temporary movement restriction zones under the main Order if highly pathogenic avian influenza of subtype H5N1 is suspected in poultry. Article 7 relates to the location and size of such zones. Article 8 requires the Secretary of State to declare a restricted zone under the main Order on confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza of subtype H5N1 in poultry. The general measures which may be imposed on suspicion and confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza are set out in the main Order. Additional measures in articles 9 to 14 of this Order restrict movements of the following: a poultry and other captive birds from restricted zones (article 9); b hatching eggs from restricted zones (article 10); c wild game bird products from protection, surveillance and restricted zones (articles 11 to 13); d by-products from any bird in a protection, surveillance or restricted zone (article 14). Article 15 bans bird gatherings in restricted zones. Articles 16 to 24 contain measures relating to enforcement of the Order. Schedule 1 sets out the mark to be applied to meat and meat products from wild game birds from protection, surveillance and restricted zones. A breach of this Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981, punishable under section 75 of that Act. Copies of the Commission Decisions adopted on 1st December 2006 and referred to above are available from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Exotic Disease Prevention and Control Division, 1A Page Street, London SW1P 4PQ and at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/ai/policy/legislation.htm. A regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this Order will have on the costs of business has not been prepared because of the obligation to implement European Commission Decisions on animal disease control as quickly as possible.

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 0.55.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.55 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