UK Offence Report

Alternative verdicts

article 140 of The Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

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) (2) Offence charged Alternative Article 9 (causing death, or grievous bodily injury, by dangerous driving) Article 10 (dangerous driving) Article 12 (careless, and inconsiderate, driving) Article 10 (dangerous driving) Article 12 (careless, and inconsiderate, driving) Article 14 (causing death, or grievous bodily injury, by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs) Article 12 (careless, and inconsiderate, driving) Article 15(1) (driving when unfit to drive through drink or drugs) Article 16(1)(a) (driving with excess alcohol in breath, blood or urine) Article 18(7) (failing to provide specimen) Article 15(1) (driving or attempting to drive when unfit to drive through drink or drugs) Article 15(2) (being in charge of

a vehicle when unfit to drive through drink or drugs) Article 16(1)(a) (driving or attempting to drive with excess alcohol in breath, blood or urine) Article 16(1)(b) (being in charge of

a vehicle with excess alcohol in breath, blood or urine) Article 42 (dangerous cycling) Article 43 (careless, and inconsiderate, cycling)

2 Where the offence with which

a person is charged is an offence under Article

14 of the Order of 1995, paragraph (1) shall not authorise his conviction of any offence of attempting to drive.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses without due care; which element that governs was not determined; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

What would breach article 140?

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 it is an offence to authorise his conviction of any offence of attempting to drive.
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, 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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to Article 14 of the Order.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
23 November 1995
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 fresh provision with respect to certain aspects of road traffic law in Northern Ireland. The principal road safety provisions are set out in Part II of the Order and include, in particular, provision for the offences of causing death, or grievous bodily injury, by dangerous driving (Article 9), dangerous driving (Article 10), careless and inconsiderate, driving (Article 12) and causing death, or grievous bodily injury, by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs (Article 14). Part III of the Order deals with requirements as to the construction and use of vehicles and equipment. It is to be an offence to use a motor vehicle or trailer in such a condition that its use involves a danger of injury to any person (Article 54). The Department is empowered to make regulations generally as to the use of vehicles and their construction (Article 55) and may test the condition of vehicles (Articles 61 and 65). Part IV of the Order contains miscellaneous amendments of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, some of which extend the enforcement provisions of that Order to offences under this Order.

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 0.62.

Basis
the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.62 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