UK Offence Report

Information

regulation 5(2) of The Meat (Official Controls) (Charges) (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The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.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—

a in purported compliance with paragraph (1), knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within

a reasonable time with

a demand made under that paragraph, is guilty of an offence and will be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

which is false or misleading in a material particular; or b without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand made under that paragraph, is guilty of an offence and will be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 5(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Meat (Official Controls) (Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2005.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2006-01-01); 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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2007
Revoked on
26 March 2007
Made
6 December 2005
In force from
1 January 2006
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 apply in relation to Wales. They revoke the Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Charges) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2095, as amended by S.I. 2000/656, S.I. 2001/1302 (W.79), and S.I. 2001/3831 (W.317)), which extend to the whole of Great Britain, in so far as they apply in relation to Wales. The Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Charges) Regulations 1998 implemented in relation to Great Britain the provisions of Council Directive 85/73/EEC on the financing of veterinary inspections and controls that require fees to be collected for inspections of and controls on fresh red meat, fresh poultry meat, rabbit meat, farmed game meat and wild game meat under certain Council Directives. An amended and consolidated text of Council Directive 85/73/EEC is annexed to Council Directive 96/43/EC at OJ No. L162, 1.7.96, p.1. In the light of reforms to the Community regime governing food hygiene that take effect on 1 January 2006, Directive 2004/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L157, 30.4.2004, p.33; the revised text of Directive 2004/41/EC is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L195, 2.6.2004, p.12) modifies Council Directive 85/73/EEC with effect from 1 January 2006 so that from that date it requires fees to be collected for official controls on meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and wild game meat under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 of the European Parliament of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p.206; the revised text of Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L226, 25.6.2004, p.83). In the light of the modification to Council Directive 85/73/EEC described in paragraph 3, these Regulations implement the provisions of that Directive that now require fees to be collected for inspections of and controls on meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and wild game meat under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004. These Regulations— require the Agency to notify the operator of each slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment and cutting plant in which official controls have been exercised of the official controls charge that has arisen in relation to those officials controls (the terms “slaughterhouse”, “game-handling establishment”, “cutting plant”, “official controls” and “official controls charge” are all defined in regulation 2) (regulation 3); provide that any official controls charge so notified is payable by the operator to the Agency on demand (regulation 3); allow the Agency to refuse to exercise any further official controls at given premises where, despite a Court order requiring the operator of the premises to pay the official controls charge for which he or she is liable, the operator fails to comply with the order (regulation 4); require persons— to supply the Agency on demand with such information as it may reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the official controls charge or notifying the operator of it, and to supply the Agency on demand with such evidence as it may reasonably require to verify that information (regulation 5); provide that a person who— in response to a demand for information or evidence knowingly or recklessly furnishes false or misleading information, or without reasonable excuse fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand for information or evidence, is guilty of an offence (regulation 5). Schedule 2 to these Regulations sets out how the official controls charge is to be calculated. A full regulatory appraisal has not been produced for this Instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
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