8 Any person who, without a defence under regulation 10— a contravenes or fails to comply with regulation 4…

Q: Is regulation 8 of The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015 a strict liability offence?

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.

regulation 8 of The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015

Status not determined
Strict liability
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries

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

8 Any person who, without
a defence under regulation 10—
a contravenes or fails to comply with regulation
4 or 5; or
b fails to supply or retain technical documentation or other information as required by regulation 6(1) and (2); is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 8?

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.

Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015, whatever the reason for doing it.
Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Not determined
Maximum fine: Not determined
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Environmental offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2014
Covers unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste, illegal discharges to air, land and water, and the equivalent offences committed by organisations. It is the guideline that introduced turnover bands for corporate fines, so the size of the defendant company is a starting point rather than a mitigating detail.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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 September 2015
In force from: 1 October 2015
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

These Regulations revoke and replace the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 (“the 2003 Regulations”). The 2003 Regulations implemented Articles 9 and 11 of Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on packaging and packaging waste (OJ No L365, 31.12.94, p 10) which relate to the essential requirements to be satisfied by packaging. They also implemented two Commission Decisions providing for derogations in respect of plastic crates and pallets and glass packaging. These are Commission Decision 1999/177/EC establishing the conditions for a derogation for plastic crates and plastic pallets in relation to the heavy metal concentration levels established in Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste (OJ No L056, 04.03.1999, p 47) and Commission Decision 2001/171/EC establishing the conditions for a derogation for glass packaging in relation to the heavy metal concentration levels established in Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste (OJ No L062, 02.03.2001, p 20). The 2003 Regulations were amended to reflect amendments to Directive 94/62/EC by S.I. 2004/1188, S.I. 2006/1492, S.I. 2009/1504, among other legislation. Directive 94/62/EC was last amended by Directive (EU) 2015/720 as regards reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags (OJ No L115, 6.5.2015, p 11). These Regulations consolidate the amendment Regulations and introduce a definition of “plastic” and “plastic carrier bags”. Part 2 provides for the application of the Regulations. They apply to all packaging (as defined in regulation 3(2)). Part 3 sets out the general requirements of the Regulations. Regulation 4 imposes a duty on a responsible person (as defined in regulation 2(2)) who places packaging on the market to ensure that it satisfies the relevant essential requirements. The essential requirements (Annex II of Directive 94/62/EC) are set out in Schedule 1. Regulation 5 imposes a duty on a responsible person who places the product on the market to ensure that the sum of the concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium of that packaging or of its packaging components does not exceed 100 ppm. Regulation 5(1) does not apply to packaging which is made entirely of lead crystal glass (regulation (5(2)). Regulation 5(3) introduces derogations from regulation 5(1) in respect of plastic crates and pallets and glass packaging provided the respective conditions set out in Schedules 2 and 3 are met. Regulation 6(1) provides for the responsible person to keep technical documentation on compliance with the essential requirements and the heavy metals concentration limits in respect of packaging and to make this available at the request of the enforcement authority. Regulation 6(2) makes provision for the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s authorised representative or, if neither is established in the Union, the responsible person who places the product on the market, to comply with the provisions relating to information set out in Schedules 2 and 3 to be submitted in certain circumstances and on request to the enforcement authorities. Part 4 relates to enforcement of the Regulations. The enforcement authorities are the weights and measures authorities in Great Britain and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and have the powers set out in Schedule 4 to these Regulations and Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c.15). In Scotland, proceedings are brought by the Procurator-Fiscal or Lord Advocate. Regulation 8 provides for offences. Regulation 9 provides for penalties for breaches of the Regulations. There are also provisions relating to the defence of due diligence (regulation 10) as well as liability of persons other than the principal offender (regulation 11). Regulation 12 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. Regulations 13, 14 and 15 provide for consequential amendments and Schedule 6 for revocations. A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector has not been produced as there are no expected changes in costs or savings to business as a consequence of this consolidation. An updated transposition note has been prepared and is available at www.gov.uk/bis and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the Regulations at www.legislation.gov.uk. Copies of these documents have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

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.

Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Lords · 9 December 2020 · The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con)
My Lords, the Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and the Waste and Environmental Permitting etc. (Legislative Functions and Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 make small but important changes to ensure that our existing domestic legislation reflects that the UK is no longer part of the EU. Both instruments take power back from the European…
Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 Lords · 20 June 2023 · Lord Harlech (Con)
My Lords, I declare my farming and land management interests as set out in the register. These regulations were laid before the House on 23 May. The purpose of this instrument is to restrict the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls and trays and to ban the supply of single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drink containers, including cups. The instrument…
Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 Lords · 20 June 2023 · Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend and welcome him to a speaking role on the Government Bench this afternoon. I broadly welcome the regulations before us—I just have some queries, which I shall address. In so far as it goes, the ban is very welcome. We are told that the instrument “bans the supply of single-use of plastic cutlery and balloon sticks and EPS/XPS food and drink containers in England”. But at paragraph…
Draft Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 Commons · 4 July 2023 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rebecca Pow)
I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023. It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mrs Harris—and particularly in those glasses, if I may say so. I think you are the envy of the room. The regulations were laid before the House on 23 May and their purpose is to restrict the supply of…

Other offences in the same instrument

Liability of persons other than the principal offenderregulation 11(2)

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 is “guilty of 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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheriesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2015