UK Offence Report

False statements, forgery and power of seizure in connection with certain documents

article 29(4) of The Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 2007

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 For paragraph (2) substitute– 2 A person who, with intent to deceive– a forges, alters or uses a document or other thing listed in paragraph (2A); or b lends to, or allows to be used by, any other person a document or other thing listed in paragraph (2A); or c makes or has in his possession any document or other thing so closely resembling a document or other thing listed in paragraph (2A) as to be calculated to deceive, is guilty of an offence. 2A The documents or other things referred to in paragraph (2) are– a any licence under the Road Traffic Orders or, in the case of a licence to drive, any counterpart of such a licence; b any counterpart of a Great Britain licence or Community licence; c any international road haulage permit; d any document which, in pursuance of Article 5(3) of this Order, is issued as evidence of the result of a test of competence to drive; e any certificate provided for by regulations under Article 13(3A) of this Order relating to the completion of a training course for motor cyclists; f any certificate of conformity or Department’s approval certificate within the meaning of Part IV of this Order; g any certificate of insurance or certificate of security under Article 92 or 93 of this Order; h any certificate required as a condition of any exception prescribed under Article 23 of the Order of 1995; i any test certificate, goods vehicle test certificate, plating certificate or certificate of temporary exemption within the meaning of Part III of the Order of 1995; j any seal required by regulations made under Article 55 of the Order of 1995 with respect to speed limiters; k any plate containing particulars required to be marked on a vehicle by regulations made under Article 55 of the Order of 1995; l any certificate evidencing the examination of a motor vehicle modified to be propelled using fuel stored under pressure under regulations made under Article 55 of the Order of 1995 m any document evidencing the appointment of an examiner under Article 74 of the Order of 1995; n any notice removing a prohibition under Article 77 (power to prohibit driving of unfit vehicles) or Article 79 (power to prohibit driving of overloaded vehicles) of the Order of 1995; o any records required to be kept by virtue of Article 82 of the Order of 1995; p a certificate of the kind referred to in Article 32B(1) (reduced penalty points for attendance on course) or Article 37(1) (reduced disqualification period for attendance on course) of the Offenders Order; q any document produced as evidence of the passing of an appropriate driving test within the meaning of Article 41 of the Offenders Order; r any document evidencing the passing of an examination (or part of an examination) required by regulations under Article 62 or the successful completion of training provided in accordance with regulations under Article 64 of the Order of 2007; s any certificate under Article 65 of the Order of 2007; t any certificate or other item prescribed under Article 70(1)(a) of the Order of 2007; u any document produced as evidence of insurance in pursuance of Regulation 6 of the European Communities (Motor Vehicles: Compulsory Insurance) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1973. 2B In paragraph (2A), “Community licence”, “counterpart” and “Great Britain licence” have the same meanings as in Part II. .

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
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 (with intent to).

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: with intent to.

What would breach article 29(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 2007.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
21 March 2007
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 amends the law relating to road traffic.

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.

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 0.92.

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