What would breach article 74 of The Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985?

Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Fraud or misappropriation

Q: Is article 74 of The Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (wilfully).

article 74 of The Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985

In force
Requires proof of a state of mind
Summary only
Corporate, financial services, company law, employment, charity, electoral and tax

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

74 Any person who—
a obtains possession by false representation or imposition of any property of
a credit union; or
b having any such property in his possession, withholds or misapplies it or wilfully applies any part of it to purposes which are not authorised by the rules of the credit union or which are not in accordance with this Order; shall be guilty of an offence and—
i if it is proved that he acted with any fraudulent intent, shall be liable on summary conviction to
a fine not exceeding level
5 on the standard scale and to be ordered to deliver up that property or to repay all money improperly applied; or
ii if it is not so proved, may be ordered to deliver up that property or to repay all money improperly applied.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: making a false or misleading statement
Fault element: Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof: No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (wilfully).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: wilfully.

What would breach article 74?

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.

Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.
Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine: £5,000
Standard scale: Level 5
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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2014
Covers fraud, false accounting, bribery and money laundering, including offences committed by organisations.
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: 31 July 1985
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

Provision of copies of rulesarticle 12(2)
Accounts and balance sheetsarticle 42(6)
Production of documents and provision of informationarticle 57(4)
Use of name “ credit union ”, etcarticle 6(4)
Use of name “ credit union ”, etcarticle 6(5)
Instrument of dissolutionarticle 70(4)
If any credit union, or any officer or member of a credit union, or any other person— a contravenes any…article 73
Fraud or misappropriationarticle 74(i)
Falsificationarticle 75

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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.
The Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Corporate, financial services, company law, employment, charity, electoral and taxOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1985