UK Offence Report

25 Any person who contravenes— a a non-molestation order; b where there is in force a non-molestation order…

article 25 of Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

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

25 Any person who contravenes— a a non-molestation order; b where there is in force a non-molestation order prohibiting that person from molesting another person, an occupation order or an order under Article 18; c an exclusion requirement included by virtue of Article 57A of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 in an interim care order under Article 57 of that Order; or d an exclusion requirement included by virtue of Article 63A of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 in an emergency protection order under Article 63 of that Order, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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

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

What would breach article 25?

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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
22 April 1998
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.

Articles 1 to 3 are introductory. Articles 4 to 11 confer rights to occupy the matrimonial home where a spouse is not otherwise entitled to occupy it and provide for the registration of those rights (largely re-enacting Part II of the Family Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1984). Articles 11 to 24 enable spouses, former spouses and cohabitees to apply for occupation orders and also enable the court to make non-molestation orders prohibiting persons from molesting another person associated with them or molesting a relevant child. Articles 25 and 26 make contravention of certain orders an offence and confer a power of arrest without warrant. Article 28 amends the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 with respect to the powers of the court to make residence and contact orders in molestation cases and Article 29 provides for exclusion requirements in interim care orders and emergency protection orders. Articles 30 to 41 contain further supplementary provisions including provision for third parties to act on behalf of victims of domestic violence (Article 35).

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”
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