UK Offence Report

Actions by an inspector in respect of an initial designation

regulation 26(6) of The Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009

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

6 It is an offence not to comply with

a requirement imposed under paragraph (3) or (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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 26(6)?

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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
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.

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
3 March 2009
In force from
Not determined
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 2006/88/EC (OJ No L 238, 24.11.2006, p14) on animal health requirements for aquaculture animals and products thereof and on the prevention and control of certain diseases in aquatic animals. Part 2 of these Regulations requires aquaculture production businesses and certain processing establishments to be authorised by the competent authority (regulation 5). Some undertakings, including put and take fisheries and specialist transport businesses, are required to be registered (regulation 12). Although these Regulations generally come into force on 27th March 2009, regulation 5(1) comes into force on 1st May 2009 and regulation 12(1) comes into force on 1st August 2009. Part 3 imposes health requirements in relation to the placing on the market of aquaculture and other aquatic animals. It also introduces disease prevention requirements in respect of the transport of such animals (regulations 19 to 21). Part 4 establishes a system for the notification and control of disease outbreaks in aquatic animals. The competent authority is required to designate an area where a listed disease or an emerging disease is suspected (regulation 24) and to make a confirmed designation (regulation 28) where such a disease is confirmed. Inspectors are given powers to require others to take steps necessary to eradicate or prevent the spread of disease to other aquatic animals (regulations 26 and 30). Part 5 gives enforcement powers to inspectors, and allows the service of an enforcement notice (regulation 36). Appeals may be made against such a notice or in relation to an authorisation under Part 2. A person found guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment to an unlimited fine (regulation 40). A full impact assessment has been prepared and placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. A copy can be obtained, together with a transposition note, from Defra, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR or the Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.90.

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