UK Offence Report

Powers of authorised officers

regulation 13(8) of The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2007 (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

8 A person is guilty of an offence if—

a without reasonable excuse, he fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by

a direction given by an authorised officer under paragraph (1);

b unless authorised to do so, in writing, by an authorised officer, he interferes with any packs or containers that have been secured by an authorised officer under paragraph (2); or

c without reasonable excuse, he fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by

a direction given by an authorised officer under paragraph (3).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

8 A person is guilty of an offence if— a without reasonable excuse, he fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by a direction given by an authorised officer under paragraph (1); b unless authorised to do so, in writing, by an authorised officer, he interferes with any packs or containers that have been secured by

What would breach regulation 13(8)?

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 Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2007 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
26 July 2007
In force from
22 August 2007
Extent
E

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 revoke and remake, with modifications, the Eggs (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/1544) insofar as they apply to England. The 1995 Regulations, as amended, made provision for the enforcement of certain provisions of Regulation (EEC) No. 2782/75 of the Council on the production and marketing of eggs for hatching and of farmyard poultry chicks (OJ No. L 282, 1.11.1975, p. 100) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1868/77 laying down detailed rules of application for Regulation (EEC) No. 2782/75 (OJ No. L 209, 17.8.1977, p. 1). They also made provision for the enforcement of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1907/90 (OJ No. L 173, 6.7.1990, p. 5) on certain marketing standards for eggs and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2295/2003 introducing detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1907/90 (OJ No. L 340, 24.12.2003, p. 16). Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1907/90 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2295/2003 have been revoked and replaced by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1028/2006 (OJ No. L 186, 7.7.2006, p. 1) and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 557/2007 (OJ No. L 132, 24.5.2007, p.5). These Regulations make provision for the continued enforcement of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2782/75 and the continued enforcement of certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1868/77, as from time to time amended, and also for the enforcement of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1028/2006, as from time to time amended, and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 557/2007, as from time to time amended. The Regulations include provisions — a making the failure to comply with the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2782/75 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1868/77 mentioned in Schedule 2 an offence (regulation 4); b relating to the registration of pedigree breeding establishments, other breeding establishments and hatcheries (regulation 5); c derogating from Article 2(1) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1868/77 by allowing eggs for hatching to be marked in a different manner from that specified in that provision (regulation 6); d making the failure to comply with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1028/2006 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 557/2007 mentioned in Schedule 3 an offence (regulation 7); e relating to the authorisation of packing centres to grade eggs (regulation 8); f derogating from the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1028/2006, as regards the marking of eggs for consumption (regulation 9); g varying the minimum requirements for the marketing of eggs as free-range eggs by authorising livestock grazing on open-air runs for hens producing such eggs (regulation 10); h derogating from the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 557/2007, by allowing eggs to be marketed as free-range eggs although not all of the requirements laid down in that Regulation for free-range eggs are met (regulation 11); i derogating from the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 557/2007, by allowing eggs to be marketed as barn eggs although not all of the requirements laid down in that Regulation for barn eggs are met (regulation 12); j providing a right of appeal against certain decisions of the Secretary of State and authorised officers (regulation 18); and k creating a penalty for offences under the Regulations (regulation 19). A partial regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available at www.defra.gov.uk or from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside this instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk).

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