UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 20(1) of The Marketing of Fruit Plant Material Regulations 2010 (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

1 It is an offence to fail to comply with— a a notice served under paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 4; b an enforcement notice served under paragraph 4(1)(a) of Schedule 4; or c a prohibition notice served under paragraph 4(1)(b) of Schedule 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 20(1)?

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. On these words it is an offence to fail to comply with— a a notice served under paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 4.
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Marketing of Fruit Plant Material Regulations 2010, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
11 August 2010
In force from
17 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 these Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations continue to implement Council Directive 92/34/EEC on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production (OJ No L 157, 10.6.1992, p. 10). They also implement Council Directive 2008/90/EC on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production (OJ No L 267, 8.10.2008, p 8). Part 2 provides for the accreditation of producers and registration of suppliers and varieties of fruit plant. Regulation 6 prohibits a producer from marketing fruit plants and propagating material without being accredited by the appropriate authority. Regulation 7 provides for the registration of all persons involved professionally in the marketing, production, reproduction or importation of fruit plant material and prohibits, from 30 September 2012, the marketing of such material without being registered. Schedule 2 makes provision for the registration of varieties of fruit plant that are distinct, uniform and stable and which conform to international standards for the variety. Schedule 2 also makes provision for the registration of other varieties that are marketed in the United Kingdom before 30th September 2012 and provides additional criteria for the registration of genetically modified varieties. Part 3 sets out the requirements for marketing fruit plants and propagating material. Regulation 11, which applies from 30th September 2012, specifies the varieties that may be marketed from that date. Regulation 12 sets out the quality requirements for fruit plant material, including that it must be substantially free on visual inspection from the specified organisms and diseases and defects likely to impair its usefulness and it must have adequate identity and purity relative to its genus, species or variety. Regulation 14 sets out the information that must accompany fruit plants and propagating material when it is marketed. Regulation 15 sets out additional quality requirements for the marketing of Citrus. Part 4 imposes additional requirements on suppliers including requirements on producers to treat fruit plant material showing signs of any of the specified organism or diseases (regulation 16) and to monitor the production process in accordance with regulation 17. Regulation 18 requires suppliers to keep records. Part 5 deals with the enforcement of these Regulations. Regulation 19 provides for the appointment of inspectors. Schedule 4 sets out inspectors’ powers, including a power to serve a notice on any person to require that person to provide information and a power to prohibit the movement of plant material that is not substantially free from the diseases and organisms referred to in regulation 12(a). An inspector also has a power to serve a notice on any person acting in contravention of these Regulations to require that person to comply with the Regulations or to prohibit that person from acting in breach of them. Under regulation 20(1) a person who fails to comply with any such notice is guilty of an offence. Under regulation 20(2) a person guilty of an offence under the Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. A transposition note and an impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Food and Environment Research Agency, Whitehouse Lane, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 OLF and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

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 0.90.

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