Power to impose fine in lieu of imprisonment

article 54(1)(b) of The Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

• In force
• Strict liability
• Either way
• Courts, police, prisons and the administration of justice

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

b for an offence punishable on summary conviction only, shall—

i not exceed level

3 on the standard scale, and

ii not be of such an amount as would subject the offender, in default of payment of the fine, to

a longer term of imprisonment or detention than the term to which he is liable on conviction of the offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 54(1)(b)?

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 Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.

Penalty

Mode of trial

Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court

Maximum fine

£5,000

Standard scale

Level 5

Maximum prison (summary)

6 months

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.

• 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

24 November 1981

In force from

Not determined

Extent

N.I.

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

Other offences in the same instrument

• Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), a person commits an offence if— a being required by Article 102(1) or…article 108(1)
• Penalty for witness failing to appear or obey direction of court excluding himarticle 119(1)
• Proof by affidavit of service of summons, handwriting, etcarticle 126(4)
• Non-appearance of accused: issue of warrantarticle 25(2)
• Where a person over the age of fourteen years is charged before a court of summary jurisdiction with a…article 29(1)
• Reports of preliminary proceedingsarticle 44(3)
• Remand for inquiry into physical or mental conditionarticle 51(1)
• Power to impose fine in lieu of imprisonmentarticle 54(1)
• Power to impose fine in lieu of imprisonmentarticle 54(1)(b)(ii)
• Orders for periodical payment: means of paymentarticle 85(14)
• Newspaper reports of domestic proceedingsarticle 90(2)
• Offences under the following provisions of the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967— a section 4(1)…paragraph 18 of SCHEDULE 2

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 0.72.

Basis

the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”

Confidence

0.72 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.
• The Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Courts, police, prisons and the administration of justiceOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 1981