What would breach regulation 5(2) of The Horse Passports Regulations 2009 (revoked)?

Not doing what the provision requires under the Horse Passports Regulations 2009, by the time it requires it to be done. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Passports

Q: Is regulation 5(2) of The Horse Passports Regulations 2009 (revoked) a strict liability offence?

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 an owner meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

regulation 5(2) of The Horse Passports Regulations 2009 (revoked)

Status not determined
Strict liability
Either way
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlife

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 In accordance with Article 5(5) of that Regulation—
a only an owner may apply for
a passport, and
b the owner must apply for
a passport within the time limits set out in Article 5, and failure to do so is an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: an owner
Conduct: failing to do something the instrument requires
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 an owner 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 5(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.

Not doing what the provision requires under the Horse Passports Regulations 2009, by the time it requires it to be done.
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
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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.

Animal cruelty: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2017
Covers cruelty to and neglect of animals, and the associated disqualification and deprivation orders.
Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

Prosecution figures

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 9995 — 09995 - Triable either way offences under Horse Passports Regulations 2009. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status: Status not determined
Made: 30 June 2009
In force from: 1 August 2009
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

These Regulations enforce Commission Regulation (EC) No. 504/2008 in England. They provide for identification of horses, and replace the Horse Passports (England) Regulations 2004. Part 2 of the Regulations create offences for breach of provisions of the Commission Regulation, and provide for the administration of veterinary medicinal products for horses intended for human consumption. The Schedule makes special provisions for Dartmoor, Exmoor and the New Forest. Part 3 provides that the Regulations are enforced by the local authority, and gives powers to inspectors of those authorities. Breach of the Regulations is an offence punishable— a on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or b on conviction on indictment, to a fine. A full impact assessment has been prepared and placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. It is available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Veterinary treatmentparagraph 2 of SCHEDULE
Movement off the designated areaparagraph 3(1) of SCHEDULE
Movement off the designated areaparagraph 3(4) of SCHEDULE
Movement off the designated areaparagraph 3(5) of SCHEDULE
Accompanying documentationregulation 10(1)
Movement to slaughterregulation 11
Issue of duplicate and replacement passportsregulation 12(1)
Issue of duplicate and replacement passportsregulation 12(3)
Procedure on deathregulation 13(3)
Treatment with a veterinary medicinal productregulation 15(1)
Treatment with a veterinary medicinal productregulation 15(2)
Databasesregulation 16(1)

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 0.88.

Basis: the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence: 0.88 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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Horse Passports Regulations 2009 (revoked) Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Dogs, animals, hunting and wildlifeOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2009