UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 39(1) of The Diseases of Swine Regulations 2014

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 regulation 3(3)(a) or (b) (obligations on change in occupation); b regulation 5(1) or (2) (requirement to notify the appropriate authority of suspect pig or carcase); c regulation 6(3) or (5) (requirements on occupier to comply with initial measures); d regulation 9(3) (movement of a pig in a temporary control zone); e regulation 19(5)(a) or (b) (obligations on operator of slaughterhouse); f regulation 21(3) (placing feral pig meat on the market without a negative test for disease); g regulation 22(2) (failure to comply with any measure specified following vaccination of feral pigs); h regulation 24(2) (movement restriction in a declared zone); i regulation 28(1) or (2) (prohibition on vaccination); j regulation 29(10), (12) or (13) (requirements arising from emergency vaccination); k regulation 30(2) or (3) (requirements relating to pigs vaccinated against classical swine fever); l regulation 31(5), (6), (8) or (9)(b) (requirements relating to pigs vaccinated against swine vesicular disease); m regulation 32 (11) (requirement to comply with notice); n regulation 33(5) (requirement to comply with conditions of a licence); o regulation 38 (obstruction); p Schedule 1 (measures on suspect, contact and infected premises); q Schedule 2 (measures in a feral pig investigation or control zone); r paragraph 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 3 (measures in a protection zone); s paragraph 10, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 of Part 2 of Schedule 3 (measures in a surveillance zone); t Schedule 4 (cleansing and disinfection of vehicles).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses reasonably practicable; which element that governs was not determined.

What would breach regulation 39(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 regulation 3(3)(a) or (b) (obligations on change in occupation).
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Diseases of Swine Regulations 2014.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. 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)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
6 months

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
16 July 2014
In force from
14 August 2014
Extent
E+W+S

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 the provisions for the control of— a swine vesicular disease contained in Council Directive 92/119/EEC introducing general Community measures for the control of certain animal diseases and specific measures relating to swine vesicular disease (OJ No L 62, 15.3.1993, p 69); b classical swine fever contained in Council Directive 2001/89/EC on Community measures for the control of classical swine fever (OJ No L 316, 1.12.2001, p 5); c African swine fever contained in Council Directive 2002/60/EC laying down specific control of African swine fever and amending Directive 92/119/EEC as regards Teschen disease and African swine fever (OJ No L 192, 20.7.2002, p 27). Part 1 is introductory and includes definitions. Part 2 deals with requirements for disease notification and the investigation of suspicion of disease. Part 3 deals with measures to be taken on infected premises where disease is confirmed. Part 4 deals with measures to be taken on suspicion and confirmation of disease at a slaughterhouse. Part 5 deals with measures to be taken on suspicion and confirmation of disease in feral pigs. Part 6 makes provision for the establishment of protection zones, surveillance zones and infection zones following the confirmation of disease on any premises. Part 7 prohibits vaccination against disease except in certain circumstances. For classical swine fever provision is made for declaring an emergency vaccination zone. Part 8 contains provisions relating to inspection and enforcement. These Regulations are enforced by the local authority (as defined in regulation 2(1)) or, if so directed, by the appropriate authority (as defined in regulation 2(2)). Breach of any of the provisions listed in regulation 39 is an offence punishable on summary conviction or on conviction on indictment. On summary conviction, the offence is punishable with a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both. On conviction on indictment, the offence is punishable with a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both. Regulation 43 deals with revocations, consequential amendments and a disapplication of provisions contained in the Animal Health Act 1981 (c. 22) in so far as they applied to classical swine fever. Regulation 44 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations in England only and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within five years after that and each subsequent publication. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no negative impact on the costs of the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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.

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