UK Offence Report

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 1 of Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

2 If the Society have reason to suspect that any documents which relate wholly or in part to the solicitor's or his firm's practice or former practice (whether or not the documents are the property of the solicitor or his firm) or to any controlled trust are in the possession or control of some person other than the solicitor or his firm or any of his or his firm's clients or any other solicitor instructed by any such client, the Society may require that person to produce or deliver such documents to any person appointed by the Society at

a time and place to be fixed by the Society and may take possession of such documents. 3

1 If any person having possession or control of any such documents fails to comply forthwith with any requirement made under paragraph 2—

a he shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale; and b . . . the High Court may, on the application of the Society, order that person to comply with the requirement within such time as may be specified in the order, and may at the same time or later order that on that person's failure to comply with such requirement one or more officers of the Society, or one or more persons appointed by the Society for the purpose, may forthwith enter upon any premises (using such force as is reasonably necessary) to search for, and take possession of, the documents.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
dealing with funds or making them available in breach of sanctions
Fault element
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (knowingly, knows that) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no fault word in the offence-creating words, but the surrounding provision uses knowingly, knows that - which element it governs was not determined.

What would breach SCHEDULE 1?

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. Moving, converting or paying away funds that belong to a designated person under the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, without a licence from the Treasury.
  2. Making funds or economic resources available to a designated person - which includes paying a third party who will pass on the benefit.
  3. Dealing with an asset in ignorance of the designation is still caught where the provision imposes no knowledge requirement; check the fault element stated below before assuming otherwise.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
In force
Made
12 April 1976
In force from
Not determined
Extent
N.I.

How this was established: read from the revised (currently in force) text.

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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