Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupier

article 54(1) of Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978

In force
Objective fault
Either way
Miscellaneous

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

1 If any person unlawfully deprives the tenant of
a dwelling-house of his occupation of the dwelling-house or any part thereof or attempts to do so he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the tenant had ceased to reside in the dwelling-house.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: Objective fault
Burden of proof: Legal burden on the defendant

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What a person personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

The provision gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: reasonable cause to believe.

The defence, as drafted

ereof or attempts to do so he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the tenant had ceased to reside in the dwelling-house.

What would breach article 54(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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine: £500
Maximum prison (summary): 6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment): 2 years

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.

Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 25 July 1978
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.

Northern Ireland (Housing) Commons · 9 July 1986 · Mr. Stuart Bell (Middlesbrough)
I congratulate the Minister on his fluency, on his grasp of the order, and on the way he took the House through it. He will pardon me if I speak with less fluency in trying to make a number of small points about the order. As we know, and as the Minister said, it is designed to provide legislation in Northern Ireland which corresponds to the provisions of the Housing Defects Act 1984 and the Housing and Building…
Additional Entries Commons · 2 December 1986
3. There shall be inserted at the appropriate places:— 'Adjudicating medical practitioner or specially qualified adjudicating medical practitioner appointed under or by virtue of Part III of the Social Security Act 1975 or Part III of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975. Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils. Chairman of the Agricultural and Food Research Council. Chairman of the…
Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 Lords · 17 May 2006 · Lord Rooker
My Lords, the purpose of the order is to introduce a series of measures which will create a new framework for the private rented sector in Northern Ireland. The private rented sector plays a very important role in meeting the housing needs of a large number of people in Northern Ireland. It offers choice and represents a flexible and speedy option for those who, for whatever reasons, are not ready to buy their own…
House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 Commons · 10 February 2010 · The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Barbara Keeley)
I beg to move, That Schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 be amended as follows:– PART 1 OF SCHEDULE 1 (JUDICIAL OFFICES) 1. The following entry is inserted at the appropriate place:— District judge (magistrates’ courts), or deputy district judge (magistrates’ courts), in Northern Ireland. 2. The following entry is omitted:— Resident Magistrate or Deputy Resident Magistrate appointed under…

Other offences in the same instrument

A protected or statutory tenant of a dwelling-house who, as a condition of giving up possession of the…article 16(1)
Prohibition of premiums and loans on renewal , etc. of protected tenanciesarticle 49(1)
Prohibition of premiums and loans on renewal , etc. of protected tenanciesarticle 49(2)
Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupierarticle 54(2)
Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupierarticle 54(2A)
Service of notices on landlord's agentsarticle 73(3)
If any person fails without reasonable cause to comply with any notice served on him under sub-paragraph…paragraph 2(2) of SCHEDULE 6

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
MiscellaneousOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1978