UK Offence Report

Abolition of special licences for driving heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles

article 4(6) of The Road Traffic (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

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

6 A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with the duty under paragraph (5) is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

6 A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with the duty under paragraph (5) is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

What would breach article 4(6)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person without reasonable excuse fails to comply with the duty under paragraph (5).
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
5 February 1991
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 amends the law relating to road traffic in Northern Ireland. Part II deals with the licensing of drivers of motor vehicles. Article 3 and Schedule 1 substitute a new Part II of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 containing general provisions with respect to driver licensing. Article 4 abolishes the requirements for additional licences for the drivers of public service vehicles and heavy goods vehicles from a day to be appointed under Article 1(2), but preserves the right of holders of such licences granted before that day, during their currency. Schedule 2 lays down requirements applying to existing holders of such licences and sets out certain transitory provisions. Article 5 and Part I of Schedule 3 introduce as new Articles 70 to 79 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 special provisions governing the licensing of drivers of goods vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles supplemental to the requirements of Part II of that Order. Article 6 and Part II of Schedule 3 provide with respect to the licensing of taxis. Under Article 7 a person learning to drive a motor cycle is required to complete successfully a course of training before taking a test of competence and is restricted to driving in the course of training until he has successfully completed such a course. Part III makes fresh provision with respect to offences arising out of driving, or being in charge of, a motor vehicle while under the influence of drink or drugs.

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 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