UK Offence Report

22 A person commits an offence if that person— a makes a statement in an application for a permit knowing or…

regulation 22 of The Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011

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

22 A person commits an offence if that person— a makes a statement in an application for a permit knowing or suspecting it to be false; b abandons, releases or allows to escape any aquatic organism, the movement of which took place under a permit or under a notice issued under regulation 7 (movement of an Annex IV species) unless that person can show that all reasonable steps were taken and due diligence exercised to avoid the abandonment, release or escape; c fails to comply with a requirement imposed under regulation 15(5) (seizure of items); d fails to comply with an enforcement notice served under regulation 17(1) or (2) (enforcement notices); e fails to comply with any provision requiring the disposal of aquatic organisms under regulation 19(5)(d) (amendment, suspension or revocation of permit or notice); f fails, without reasonable cause, to give an inspector any assistance or information which the inspector may reasonably require for the purposes of the inspector’s functions under these Regulations; g intentionally obstructs an inspector; or h knowingly gives false or misleading information to an inspector.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
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 (intentionally, knowingly).

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: knowingly, intentionally.

What would breach regulation 22?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

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.

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
12 September 2011
In force from
10 October 2011
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 implement Council Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 (OJ No L 168, 28.6.2007, p.1) concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture. Regulation 4 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and lay a report before Parliament within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Part 2 of the Regulations deals with permits (regulation 5), environmental risk assessments (regulation 9), contingency plans (regulation 10) and monitoring (regulation 11). It also makes provision for the movement of species listed in Annex IV to Council Regulation 708/2007 and locally absent species from within the United Kingdom to be restricted (regulations 6 to 8). Part 3 gives enforcement powers to inspectors and makes provision for appeals. 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 23). A full impact assessment has been produced and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. It is available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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