UK Offence Report

4 It shall be an offence for a person– a to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement…

article 41(4) of The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

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 It shall be an offence for

a person–

a to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with

a requirement imposed by an authorised officer under Article 34(2)(c);

b falsely to pretend to be an authorised officer;

c to fail to comply with

a restriction or prohibition imposed by

a prohibition notice;

d to fail to comply with

a requirement imposed by an enforcement notice or an alterations notice;

e to contravene Article 45;

f to make in any register, book, notice or other document required by virtue of this Part to be kept, served or given an entry which he knows to be false in

a material particular; or

g to give any information which he knows to be false in

a material particular, or recklessly to give any information which is false in

a material particular, where the information is given in purported compliance with

a requirement to give information imposed by virtue of this Part.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (recklessly).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

4 It shall be an offence for a person– a to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement imposed by an authorised officer under Article 34(2)(c); b falsely to pretend to be an authorised officer; c to fail to comply with a restriction or prohibition imposed by a prohibition notice; d to fail to comply with a requirem

What would breach article 41(4)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
24 May 2006
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 consolidates with amendments the law relating to fire services in Northern Ireland and makes new provision with respect to fire safety. PART II of the Order establishes the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, and transfers all assets, liabilities etc. of the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland to that Board. It confers core functions and other functions on the Board, makes provision concerning water supplies and confers powers on fire and rescue officers. Part III replaces the existing fire precautions legislation based on the requirement to obtain a fire certificate, with a new requirement to comply with fire safety duties such as the duty to carry out risk assessments and to take specified fire safety measures. It makes provision for implementing in part Council Directives 89/391/EEC, 89/654/EEC, 91/383/EEC, 94/33/EC, 98/24/EC and 99/92/EC. ## PART IV confers functions on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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