Other offences connected with Article 603A
article 603F(2) of The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (revoked)
- In force
- Requires proof of a state of mind
- 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The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.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
2 Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes an application to the registrar which purports to be an application under Article 603A, but which is not, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.
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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).
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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.
What would breach article 603F(2)?
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.
- On these words an offence is committed where a person knowingly or recklessly makes an application to the registrar which purports to be an application under Article 603A, but which is not.
- Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
- 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
- Not determined
- Maximum fine
- Unlimited
- Maximum prison (summary)
- Not determined
'to a fine' with no stated maximum.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
- 23 June 1986
- 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
- Entitlement of valuer to full disclosurearticle 120(2)
- Penalty for concealing name of creditor, etcarticle 151
- Duty to deliver annual returnsarticle 371(3)
- Prohibition on trading under misleading namearticle 43(1)
- Prohibition on trading under misleading namearticle 43(2)
- Department's power to require production of documentsarticle 440(6)
- Entry and search of premisesarticle 441(7)
- Provision for security of information obtainedarticle 442
- Provision for security of information obtainedarticle 442(2)
- Punishment for destroying, mutilating, etc. company documentsarticle 443(1)
- Punishment for destroying, mutilating, etc. company documentsarticle 443(2)
- Punishment for furnishing false informationarticle 444
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.
- The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (revoked) 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 1986