UK Offence Report

1 A person in charge of a dog shall be guilty of an offence if, [at any time] [during the [times] [periods]…

paragraph 3(1) of SCHEDULE 4 of The Dog Control Orders (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 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

1 A person in charge of

a dog shall be guilty of an offence if, [at any time] [during the [times] [periods] specified in Schedule 2], that person takes the dog onto, or permits the dog to enter or to remain on, any land to which this Order applies unless—

a that person has

a reasonable excuse for doing so; or

b the owner, occupier or other person or authority having control of the land has consented (generally or specifically) to that person doing so.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 paragraph 3(1) of SCHEDULE 4?

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 Dog Control Orders (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2007.

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
6 March 2007
In force from
15 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

Chapter 1 (controls on dogs) of Part 6 (dogs) of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (c. 16) (“the 2005 Act”) establishes a new system for the control of dogs by county, county borough and community councils (“authorities”). That Chapter empowers authorities to make dog control orders in respect of any land in their area which is open to the air, subject to any land being excluded by order made by the National Assembly for Wales. The Controls on Dogs (Non-application to Designated Land) (Wales) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007 No. 702 (W.59) designates, for specified purposes, the following descriptions of land as land to which Chapter 1 of Part 6 of the 2005 Act does not apply— a land that is placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under section 39(1) of the Forestry Act 1967 (c. 10); and b land which is, or forms part of, a road These Regulations prescribe, in relation to dog control orders made under section 55 of the 2005 Act— a the procedures to be followed by authorities when making, varying and revoking dog control orders (regulations 3 to 6); b the offences which may be provided for in a dog control order (regulation 7(1) and paragraph 1 of each of Schedules 1 to 5); c the maximum penalties which may be provided for in a dog control order in relation to the prescribed offences (regulation 7(2)); d the content and form of dog control orders (including orders amending a dog control order) (regulations 8(a) and 9 and paragraph 2 of each of Schedules 1 to 5 and Schedule 6); and e the earliest coming into force date of an order (including an order amending a dog control order) (regulation 10). Further information on Chapter 1 of Part 6 of the 2005 Act may be found in the Explanatory Notes to the 2005 Act available at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/en2005/ukpgaen_20050016_en.pdf

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