UK Offence Report

Enforcement

article 25(1) of The Tuberculosis in Animals (England) Order 2021

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 A person who does anything, or fails to do anything, in contravention of this Order commits an offence under section

73 of the Act.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 25(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 an offence is committed where a person does anything, or fails to do anything, in contravention of this Order.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Tuberculosis in Animals (England) Order 2021, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 73 of the Act.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
6 September 2021
In force from
1 October 2021
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 brings together the tuberculosis control regimes applicable to bovine animals, goats, sheep, pigs, camelids and deer. Article 2(1) (amongst other things) and Schedule 1 provide for the definition of the low-risk area. Article 4 extends the definition of “disease” in the Animal Health Act 1981 (c. 22) to include tuberculosis. Part 2 applies in relation to all animals listed above. Articles 5 and 6 provide for the giving of notice where specified individuals know or suspect tuberculosis is present in an animal or a carcase. Article 7 provides that, where a veterinary inspector believes that an animal or carcase is infected with tuberculosis, that veterinary inspector must carry out an inquiry as to the existence of tuberculosis. In order to carry out that inquiry, the veterinary inspector may examine any animal or carcase, carry out tests, and mark any animal or carcase. Part 2 also contains provisions relating to the testing of animals suspected to have tuberculosis (and the consequences if tuberculosis cannot be ruled out), notification of intended slaughter of infected animals, precautions against the spread of infection, suspected animals in markets or shows, control of infection from other animals, the identification and movement of deer, and other matters. Part 3 only applies in relation to bovine animals. Articles 19 (and Schedule 2) and 20 set out provisions for pre- and post- movement testing respectively. Articles 21 and 22 provide for exempt markets and exempt and approved finishing units and approved collecting centres. Article 23 provides for the publication of information about bovine herds that have, or have lost, officially tuberculosis-free status. Part 4 contains general provisions concerning notices, licences and approvals and enforcement. Part 5 contains provisions concerning revocation, a consequential amendment, transitional provisions and review. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no new significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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”; c10_offence_under_parent_act
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