UK Offence Report

Assembly centres

article 10 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Wales) Order 2007

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

10 An operator of an assembly centre who fails to comply with Article

9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (assembly centres) is guilty of an offence against 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 10?

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 fails to comply with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (assembly centres).
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Wales) Order 2007, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
Status not determined
Made
27 March 2007
In force from
30 March 2007
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 makes provision in Wales for the administration and enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations (OJ L 3, 5.1.2005. p.1.). It also provides for the administration and enforcement of Council Regulation 1255/97 concerning Community criteria for staging points (OJ L 174, 2.7.97 p.1.). It revokes (insofar as it has effect in Wales) the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997, which implemented Council Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection of animals during transport (OJ No L340, 11.12.91, p 17). Part 2 of the Order enforces the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 in relation to transport (article 5), transporters (article 6), roll-on-roll-off vessels (article 7) organisers (article 8), keepers (article 9) and assembly centres (article 10). It also enforces the requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 in relation to control posts (article 11). Article 11 makes it an offence to use an unapproved control post and to operate a control post without prior approval. Part 3 provides derogations relating to means of transport by road used in respect of journeys not exceeding 12 hours in order to reach the final destination (articles 12 to 19). Part 4 provides for the amendment, suspension or revocation of approvals, authorisations or certificates and for representations against a notice to amend, suspend or revoke them (articles 20 to 23). Inspectors are given powers to require compliance with the Order, including the power to stop a journey (article 24). Owners and charterers of vessels used to transport animals are required to produce information on demand to an officer of the National Assembly, which may include a plan of the vessel (article 26). The Order is enforceable by local authorities (article 29). Breach of the Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981, punishable in accordance with section 75 of that Act. A Regulatory Appraisal has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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