UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Sheep and Goats Identification and Movement (Interim Measures) (Wales) (No. 2) Order 2002

the instrument as a whole of The Sheep and Goats Identification and Movement (Interim Measures) (Wales) (No. 2) Order 2002

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

73 of the Animal Health Act 1981. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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. Moving the goods across the border under the Sheep and Goats Identification and Movement (Interim Measures) (Wales) (No. 2) Order 2002 without the licence the instrument requires.
  2. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  3. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

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 Animal Health Act 1981.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not 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
5 September 2002
In force from
6 September 2002
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order applies only to Wales and revokes and re-enacts (subject to some amendment) the Sheep and Goats Identification and Movement (Interim Measures) (Wales) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/1357 (W.133)). It implements the provisions relating to sheep and goats of the Council Directive 92/102/EEC on the identification and registration of animals (OJ No. L355, 5.12.92, p.32) and provides interim disease control-related measures for the period from 6th September 2002 to 1st February 2003. The Order requires a person keeping sheep or goats to notify the National Assembly (article 3) and to keep records of the movements and other details of sheep and goats (articles 4 and 5). Article 7 requires sheep and goats born in Wales to be marked with an Origin Mark and article 8 prohibits moving the animals from their holding of birth without an Origin Mark. Article 9 prohibits various general movements of sheep or goats unless they are marked with specified identification marks. Article 10 provides for a maximum of 3 identification marks to be applied to a sheep or goat in most cases. Article 11 requires a sheep or goat imported from outside the European Union to be marked with an F Mark within 30 days. Article 12 provides for a document containing specified information to accompany sheep or goats when they are moved, except in certain circumstances. Articles 13 to 15 provide for the removal, replacement and addition of the eartags and tattoos, and prohibits their defacement. Article 16 requires production of records to an inspector and article 17 sets out provisions in respect of markets. Article 18 provides for local authorities to enforce the provisions of this Order. Breach of any provision of this Order is an offence under Section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981 and is punishable on conviction with a fine. The main changes from the previous Order are— a to amend the date that the Order ceases to have effect (from 1st December 2002 to 1st February 2003) (Article 1); b to amend the definition of “collecting centre” so as to bring it into line with other related legislation (article 2); c to increase the maximum number of tags that can be applied to an animal (article 10); d to place a requirement on keepers that receive new animals to notify this fact to the local authority (article 12); and e to place a requirement on keepers of animals to replace lost S Marks provided the detail of the original is known to the keeper (article 13). A regulatory appraisal has not been prepared for this Order.

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 0.55.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.55 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