UK Offence Report

Restrictions on newly qualified drivers and drivers disqualified until tested

paragraph 19A(4) of SCHEDULE 1 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

4 Any person who contravenes any of the prescribed restrictions shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

cribed limit he is guilty of an offence under this Order. 2 It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under paragraph (1)(b) to prove that at the time he is alleged to have committed the offence the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of his driving the vehicle whilst the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine remained likely to exceed the prescribed limit. 3 T

What would breach paragraph 19A(4) of SCHEDULE 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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes any of the prescribed restrictions.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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”
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