UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 20(1) of The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-And-Mouth Disease) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2001 (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

1 A person contravening any provision of these Regulations shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 20(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-And-Mouth Disease) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2001.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2001-03-17); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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 March 2001
In force from
17 March 2001
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 the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement in Wales a change in the restrictions on imports and exports of certain animals and animal products in accordance with Commission Decision 2001/190/EC of 6th March 2001 amending Decision 2001/172/EC concerning certain protection measures with regard to foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom (OJ No. L67, 9.3.2001, p.88). They revoke and replace the Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (No.2) (Wales) Regulations 2001, S. I. 2001/879 (W.39). They prohibit the import and export of specified live animals (regulation 3) and restrict the export of fresh meat, meat products, milk, milk products, semen and embryos from biungulate animals, hides and skins, and animal products (regulations 4 to 10). The veterinary certificate required for the export of these products can in some circumstances be replaced by a commercial certificate, suitably endorsed in accordance with regulation 12. The Regulations also permit certain products in transit, and products made from pre-processed products originating outside the United Kingdom (regulation 11). They require a certification for exports to third countries as well as to other member States (regulation 13). They prohibit the export of equidae to other member States unless the animals are accompanied by a certificate which certifies that they have not been in a protection or surveillance zone for the 15 days prior to certification (regulation 14). They give inspectors appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food powers to enter premises and carry out examinations (regulation 15). They empower Customs officers to stop and detain vehicles and vessels pending examination by an inspector (regulation 16) and introduce a notice procedure whereby an inspector can prohibit export of a consignment if he is not satisfied that products comply with these Regulations (regulation 17). Obstruction is an offence (regulation 18) and company directors and others can be punished for an offence by a body corporate (regulation 19). Breach of the regulations is, under regulation 20, punishable — a on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both; b on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both. Certificates issued in England or Northern Ireland, or in Scotland, are valid under these Regulations (regulation 21). The regulations are enforced in Wales by the Minister or the local authority (regulation 22).

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 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