UK Offence Report

Contravention of The General Pharmaceutical Council (Registration Rules) Order of Council 2010

the instrument as a whole of The General Pharmaceutical Council (Registration Rules) Order of Council 2010

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

67 of the Medicines Act 1968. 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the General Pharmaceutical Council (Registration Rules) Order of Council 2010.

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 67 of the Medicines Act 1968.

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
28 June 2010
In force from
27 September 2010
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 approves The General Pharmaceutical Council (Registration) Rules 2010 (“the Rules”) made by the General Pharmaceutical Council (“the Council”) under the Pharmacy Order 2010 (S.I.2010/231) (“the Order”). The Rules set out various matters relating to the register established and maintained under article 19 of the Order (“the Register”). Part 1 contains preliminary matters, including general provisions relating to the service of documents and the waiver and non-charging of fees in respect of applications under Parts 3 and 5 of the Rules. Provision is also made to enable the payment by direct debit in instalments or otherwise of fees in respect of applications. Part 2 makes provision relating to the form and keeping of the Register. In particular, it requires the Register to be kept in writing and securely. Part 2 also contains provisions relating to the recording of fitness to practise matters and requiring registrants to notify the Registrar in writing of any changes to their name or contact details. Part 3 makes detailed provision in respect of the form and manner of various applications relating to Parts 1 and 2 of the Register (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians). These applications relate to entries in and annotations in respect of specialisations made to entries in the Register and also to the renewal and restoration of such entries and annotations. Applications, which must be made on the relevant application form which must be in such form as the Council may from time to time determine, have to be accompanied by the fee prescribed in rules made under article 36 of the Order in respect of the application. Applications must generally be refused if they are not made within the prescribed time limit and if the prescribed fee is not paid. Provision is made for the voluntary removal of entries in, and annotations made to entries in, Parts 1 and 2 of the Register. Applications for the voluntary removal of an entry from the Register will generally be refused where there is an ongoing investigation or there are outstanding proceedings relating to a registrant’s fitness to practise. General provision is also included to enable applications to be made on line. Part 4 contains a procedure to be followed by the Registrar for dealing with entries in Parts 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Register that may have been fraudulently procured or incorrectly made, or where the fitness to practise of a registrant was impaired at the time of the registrant’s entry in the Register but this was not declared to the Registrar. In these cases, before determining the matter, the Registrar may serve a Notice of Intention to Remove, and the registrant may elect to have a hearing (which will be before the Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee) or for the case to be determined without a hearing. The Registrar must also consider whether or not to refer the matter to the Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee. Part 5 makes detailed provision in respect of the form and manner of various applications relating to Part 3 of the Register (registered pharmacies). These applications relate to entries of premises entered in, and annotations in respect of specialisations made to entries in, Part 3 of the Register and also to the renewal and restoration of such entries and annotations. Applications, which must be made on the relevant application form which must be in such form as the Council may from time to time determine, have to be accompanied by the fee prescribed in rules made under article 36 of the Order in respect of the application. Applications must generally be refused if they are not made within the prescribed time limit and if the prescribed fee is not paid. Similar provision to that contained in Part 3 of these Rules is also made for the voluntary removal of entries of premises entered in, and annotations in respect of specialisations made to entries of premises entered in, Part 3 of the Register. Applications for the voluntary removal of an entry from the Register will also generally be refused where there is an ongoing investigation or there are outstanding proceedings relating to the retail pharmacy business carried on at the registered pharmacy. General provision is also included to enable applications to be made on line. Part 6 contains a procedure to be followed by the Registrar for dealing with entries of premises entered in Part 3 of the Register that may have been fraudulently procured or incorrectly made. In these cases, before determining the matter, the Registrar may serve a Notice of Intention to Remove on the person carrying on a retail pharmacy business at the premises entered in Part 3 of the Register, that person may elect for a hearing or for the case to be determined without a hearing. The Registrar must also consider whether the matter constitutes misconduct for the purposes of disqualification proceedings under section 80 of the Medicines Act 1968 (c.67)).

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