UK Offence Report

Protection of certain wild plants: offences

regulation 45(1) of The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 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

1 It is an offence deliberately to pick, collect, cut, uproot or destroy

a wild plant of

a European protected species.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (deliberately).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: deliberately.

What would breach regulation 45(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months

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
1 March 2010
In force from
Not determined
Extent
E+W

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 consolidate the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (“the 1994 Regulations”). They also implement aspects of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (“the Marine Act”). These Regulations extend to England and Wales (including the adjacent territorial sea). They also extend to Scotland (including the adjacent territorial sea) to a limited degree. They revoke the 1994 Regulations except (generally) as they extend to Scotland. In addition, in respect of reserved matters, these Regulations replace the 1994 Regulations as they extend to Scotland. These Regulations transpose Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (“the Habitats Directive”). Regulation 9 provides that public bodies must exercise their nature conservation functions so as to comply with the Habitats Directive. Regulations 10 to 15 make provision for the selection, designation, registration and notification of sites to be protected under the Habitats Directive (“European sites”). Regulations 16 to 18 make provision for management agreements for European sites. Regulations 19 to 34 make provision in respect of European sites for (i) control of damaging operations, (ii) special nature conservation orders and restoration orders, (iii) byelaws and (iv) compulsory purchase. Regulations 35 to 38 make provision for the protection of European marine sites. Part 3 provides for the protection of certain wild animals and plants. In particular, regulation 41 makes it an offence, subject to exceptions, deliberately to capture, kill or disturb those animals or to trade in them. Regulation 45 makes it an offence, subject to exceptions, to pick, collect, cut or destroy those plants or to trade in them. (These offences correspond to offences in the 1994 Regulations). Regulation 48 imposes a duty on the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers to make arrangements for the surveillance of the conservation status of natural habitats and species protected under the Habitats Directive. Regulation 50 requires them to make arrangements to establish a system to monitor the incidental capture and killing of animals listed in Annex IV(a) to the Habitats Directive. Regulation 52 makes it an offence deliberately to introduce from a ship into the sea new species that are not native to Great Britain. (This corresponds to an offence in the 1994 Regulations). Part 5 provides for the licensing of certain activities relating to animals and plants. The offences under Part 3 do not apply to anything done in accordance with a licence. Regulation 56(2)(a)(i) transfers certain licensing functions from Natural England to the Marine Management Organisation in respect of the territorial sea seaward of mean low water mark. Regulations 60 to 67 require the effect on a European site to be considered before the granting of consents or authorisations of a kind specified in regulations 68 to 101, including the grant of planning permission, consents under the Electricity Act 1989, authorisations under the Pipe-lines Act 1962, orders under the Transport and Works Act 1992, environmental permits, abstraction licences and marine works. Regulation 61 provides that a competent authority may not authorise a plan or project that may adversely affect the integrity of a European site, subject to the exceptions set out in regulation 62 (considerations of overriding public interest). Chapter 8 of Part 6 sets out similar requirements in relation to land-use plans and national policy statements. Part 7 sets out the enforcement powers of wildlife inspectors and constables. It also sets out certain further offences, including the offence of intentionally obstructing a wildlife inspector (regulation 119). (Again, these offences correspond to offences in the 1994 Regulations). Regulation 132 and paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 amend the Marine Act. Paragraph 5(5) extends the powers conferred by that Act on marine enforcement officers in respect of the 1994 Regulations to offences under regulations 57, 58 and 116 of these Regulations. An impact assessment prepared during the passage of the Marine Act can be found on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ website at www.defra.gov.uk. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on business or the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.

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