UK Offence Report

False statements, withholding information and failure to disclose change of circumstances

article 17(1) of The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 If a person, with intent to induce the Executive to believe, in connection with the exercise of its functions under this Part, that he or another person— a is homeless or threatened with homelessness, or b has a priority need, or c did not become homeless or threatened with homelessness intentionally, knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular, or knowingly withholds information which the Executive has reasonably required him to give in connection with the exercise of those functions, he commits an 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly, with intent to).

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, intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach article 17(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. 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
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
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
Status not determined
Made
14 November 1988
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes further amendments to the law relating to housing in Northern Ireland. Part I is introductory. Part II imposes on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive duties in relation to persons who are found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness. In Part III, Articles 18 to 24 make miscellaneous amendments to the right to buy, to which secure tenants of the Executive are entitled under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983. ArticlesI 25 to 28 amend certain provisions of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. Articles 29 and 30 empower the Executive to make schemes for the purchase of houses evacuated in consequence of acts or threats of violence and for the carrying out of emergency repairs to houses. Part IV is supplementary.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 “commits 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