UK Offence Report

3 A person commits an offence if the person— a dishonestly issues a plant passport; b dishonestly alters a…

article 46(3) of The Plant Health (England) Order 2015 (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

3 A person commits an offence if the person—

a dishonestly issues

a plant passport;

b dishonestly alters

a plant passport; or

c dishonestly re-uses

a plant passport.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Legal burden on the defendant

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

The provision gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

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

The defence, as drafted

lant passport; or c dishonestly re-uses a plant passport. 4 It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under paragraph (1)(a)(xvii) to prove that the person reasonably believed— a that the disclosure was lawful; or b that the information had already and lawfully been made available to the public. 5 If an offence under this Order is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, o

What would breach article 46(3)?

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 Plant Health (England) Order 2015.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
3 months

the level is stated but no money value is given: this instrument extends outside the United Kingdom, where the standard scale set by s.122(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 does not run.

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.

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
4 March 2015
In force from
1 July 2015
Extent
E

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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order replaces the Plant Health (England) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2530) and the Plant Health (England) (Phytophthora ramorum) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/2590). It implements Council Directive 2000/29/EC on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community (OJ No L 169, 10.7.2000, p1) and related European Union plant health legislation, including the following Commission Implementing Decisions— a Commission Implementing Decision 2014/497/EU as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa (Well and Raju) (OJ No L 219, 25.7.2014, p56); b Commission Implementing Decision 2014/679/EU amending Implementing Decision 2012/270/EU as regards its period of application and as regards the movement to packing facilities of potato tubers originating in areas demarcated in order to prevent the spread within the Union of Epitrix cucumeris (Harris), Epitrix similaris (Gentner), Epitrix subcrinita (Lec.) and Epitrix tuberis (Gentner) (OJ No L 283, 27.9.2014, p61); and c Commission Implementing Decision 2014/690/EU repealing Decision 2006/464/EC on provisional emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Community of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (OJ No L 288, 2.10.2014, p5). Part 1 is introductory and includes definitions. Article 2(5) provides for references to the European Union instruments listed in that provision to be read as references to those instruments as amended from time to time. Part 2 applies to plant pests and relevant material coming from countries outside the European Union, including relevant material from third countries coming via another part of the European Union where the Secretary of State has agreed to carry out certain checks on that material. “Relevant material” is defined in article 2(1). Article 5 prohibits the landing in England of certain plant pests and relevant material and imposes restrictions on other relevant material which may be imported into England from third countries. Article 6 requires importers of controlled imports of relevant material to provide the Secretary of State with advance notice of their landing and article 7 requires those imports to be accompanied by the appropriate phytosanitary certificate. Articles 10 to 12 prohibit the removal of this relevant material from an area of plant health control until an inspector has inspected the material and is satisfied that the material can be discharged. Article 8 exempts certain relevant material which is brought into England in a person’s baggage from the requirements in article 5 and other related requirements. Part 3 applies to plant pests and relevant material from the European Union (whether originating in the European Union or in third countries). Articles 19 and 20 prohibit the introduction into England of certain plant pests and relevant material from another part of the European Union and contain prohibitions and restrictions on the movement of plant pests and relevant material and other activities in England. Article 21 requires certain relevant material to be accompanied by a plant passport when it is moved within England or consigned to another part of the European Union. Part 4 imposes a requirement on plant traders to be registered in respect of any activity which they carry out and which is regulated by the Order (articles 25 to 28) and makes provision for the Secretary of State to authorise plant traders to issue plant passports (article 29). Part 5 contains special arrangements governing relevant material from Switzerland. Part 6 contains general enforcement powers given to plant health inspectors. Part 7 imposes additional requirements in relation to certain solanaceous species (potatoes and tomatoes). Part 8 makes provision for the Secretary of State to grant licences authorising activities which would otherwise be prohibited by the Order. Part 9 requires certain plant pests which are present or suspected to be present in England to be notified to the Secretary of State or an inspector and makes provision for inspectors to request information about certain plant health matters. Part 10 contain offences for non-compliance with the Order and with requirements imposed under article 46. Article 47 sets out the penalties for the offences. (Contravention of any prohibition on landing imposed by this Order is an offence under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c.2)). Part 11 deals with revocations and transitional provisions. Article 50 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of this Order and publish a report at five-yearly intervals. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on business or the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. The Explanatory Memorandum for this instrument is available alongside the instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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