Provision for inspection and rights of entry

article 42(6) of The Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996

Status not determined
Strict liability
Summary only
Alcohol licensing, gambling, smoke-free and public health

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 If without reasonable excuse the requirement imposed by
a notice under paragraph (5) is not complied with—
a in the case of
a club which is
a registered club, the registered club and every official of the club at the time of the contravention; and
b in the case of
a club which is not
a registered club, the person contravening and every official and member of the club; shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to
a fine not exceeding level
4 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: breaching the provision
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 If without reasonable excuse the requirement imposed by a notice under paragraph (5) is not complied with— a in the case of a club which is a registered club, the registered club and every official of the club at the time of the contravention; and b in the case of a club which is not a r

What would breach article 42(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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

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.

Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
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.
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.
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: Status not determined
Made: 19 December 1996
In force from: 20 February 1997
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

The Order consolidates with amendments the law relating to the registration of clubs. The principal amendments are— a the waiting period for a grant of registration is reduced to 1 year; b registration is valid for up to 5 years; c clubs awaiting registration will be required to have in place, and adhere to, rules similar to those required for registered clubs and the police right of entry to registered clubs is extended to cover clubs during the waiting period; d the compulsory afternoon break in the permitted hours on Sunday is abolished; e children, in the company of an adult, are to be allowed in registered clubs which are certified in that respect; f the number of special occasion authorisations which clubs can avail themselves of is increased to 52 in any year; g the Department is enabled to make provision, by regulation, as to the form of accounts which clubs are required to produce; and h penalty points are to be attributed where a registered club or an official of a registered club is convicted of certain offences and are to be taken into account if the club or an official of the club is convicted of a further such offence.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Betting And Gaming (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 Lords · 20 January 2004 · Baroness Amos
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken for the support they gave the order. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, was concerned about possible social hardship. As the package of measures is so modest, we do not consider that it will increase the social dangers of gambling for vulnerable people, but I take the noble Lord's point and I welcome his comments on the importance of transparency in the policing and…
Degrees Of Affinity Referred To In Paragraphs (2C) And (2D) Lords · 17 November 2004
Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/ 3159 (N.I. 23))

Other offences in the same instrument

Prohibition of supply, etc., of intoxicating liquor outside permitted hoursarticle 22(2)
Closing of bar outside permitted hoursarticle 23(2)
Unlawful supply and consumption, etc., in registered clubsarticle 28(2)
Unauthorised persons in certain parts of club premisesarticle 29(1)
Unauthorised persons in certain parts of club premisesarticle 29(2)
Restriction on supply, etc., of intoxicating liquor of a clubarticle 3(2)
Functions in registered clubsarticle 30(3)
Misconduct of registered clubsarticle 31(1)
Misconduct of registered clubsarticle 31(3)
Young persons prohibited from barsarticle 32(10)
Young persons prohibited from barsarticle 32(12)
Young persons prohibited from barsarticle 32(14)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Alcohol licensing, gambling, smoke-free and public healthOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1996