UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Animal Gatherings (Wales) Order 2010

the instrument as a whole of The Animal Gatherings (Wales) Order 2010

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Animal Gatherings (Wales) Order 2010.

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
22 March 2010
In force from
1 April 2010
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 revokes and re-enacts, with amendments, the Animal Gatherings (Wales) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2425 (W.201)) (“the 2007 Order”). Licences must be obtained in accordance with article 5(1) if any person wants to hold an animal gathering that is not exempted by article 4. Under the 2007 Order sheep autumn breeding sales had been exempt but must now be licensed under this Order. Other than where the animal gathering takes place on any paved animal area, there is a restriction on the number of days that must pass before another gathering can be held on licensed premises (articles 6 and 7). Article 8 deals with the destruction, treatment or disposal of feeding stuffs and other materials. Animals may only be brought to an animal gathering during a period of up to 48-hours from the opening of the gathering (article 9). This 48-hour period for animals to be brought to a gathering must be pre-notified and publicised (article 10). A dedicated slaughter sale or a dedicated slaughter collection can only be held on premises with paved animal areas (article 11). All equipment must be cleaned before the next animal gathering, and there are restrictions before equipment can be removed from the licensed premises (article 12). The Order is enforced by the local authority (article 13). Breach of the Order is an offence under section 73 of the Animal Health Act 1981 (c. 22). A regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector has not been prepared.

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