UK Offence Report

1 Without prejudice to section 82 of the Land Registration Act (penalties for fraud) or the Perjury…

article 43(1) of The Property (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

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 Without prejudice to section 82 of the Land Registration Act (penalties for fraud) or the Perjury (Northern Ireland) Order 1979, a person who, in any document made, served or lodged under Part II or III or this Part,— a makes a statement which he knows to be false; or b recklessly makes a statement which is false, is guilty of an offence and is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (recklessly).

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: recklessly.

What would breach article 43(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 served or lodged under Part II or III or this Part,— a makes a statement which he knows to be false; or b recklessly makes a statement which is false.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Property (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. 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
8 April 1997
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, which is mainly based on recommendations made by the Final Report of the Land Law Working Group (HMSO 1990). empowers persons who hold land subject to ground rents to redeem those rents voluntarily on or after a day to be appointed, except where the land is used (or is required by its title to be used) wholly for business purposes. The Order also contains provisions for the compulsory redemption of ground rents on dwelling-houses which are to be the subject of conveyances on or after an appointed day. In addition, the Order makes new provision for the running of certain covenants affecting freehold land and for the conversion of certain estates, repeals obsolete provisions about agricultural tenancies and makes provision about land owned by the National Trust or in co-ownership and the compulsory acquisition of land subject to a tenancy.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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
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