UK Offence Report

Powers of inspectors

regulation 6(2) of The Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures in Zoos) (Wales) Regulations 2005

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 Any person who defaces, obliterates or removes any mark applied under paragraph (1)(c) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 6(2)?

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 defaces, obliterates or removes any mark applied under paragraph (1)(c).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures in Zoos) (Wales) Regulations 2005.

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.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures in Zoos) (Wales) (No. 2) Regulations 2005
Revoked on
9 December 2005
Made
28 October 2005
In force from
28 October 2005
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations bring into force Commission Decision 2005/744/EC laying down the requirements for the prevention of highly pathogenic avian influenza caused by influenza A virus of subtype H5N1 in susceptible birds kept in zoos in the Member States (OJ No L 279, 22.10.2005, p.75). They require the Assembly Secretary to evaluate the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus to susceptible birds in zoos and to take appropriate measures to reduce such risk (Regulation 4(1) and (2)). Regulation 4(2) provides for the Assembly Secretary to declare avian influenza prevention (zoos) zones or to serve notices of restrictions on premises. Regulation 4(3) sets out the measures which may be applied. Regulation 5 provides for the Assembly Secretary to require vaccination of susceptible birds in zoos if he or she thinks necessary. Regulations 6,7 and 8 deal with the powers of inspectors appointed by the Assembly Secretary and by local authorities and with enforcement. A regulatory appraisal has not been prepared in respect of these Regulations.

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