UK Offence Report

3 A person who, in purported compliance with a requirement imposed by or under any of the foregoing…

regulation 17(3) of The Special Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (revoked)

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

3 A person who, in purported compliance with

a requirement imposed by or under any of the foregoing provisions to furnish any information, makes

a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in

a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular, commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 17(3)?

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 Special Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
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
14 August 1998
In force from
18 September 1998
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 Regulations.) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations provide a new definition of special waste. They make provision for handling such waste and for implementing Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (O.J. No. L377, 31.12.91, p. 20) (“the Directive”). Regulation 2 defines special waste, making reference to Parts I, II and III of Schedule 2. This is to implement the definition of hazardous waste in the Directive and in particular in the List annexed to Council Decision 94/904/EC (O.J. No. L356, 31.12.94, p. 14). The definition extends, in accordance with Article 1.4 of the Directive, to certain other waste considered to display particular hazardous properties. Household waste is excluded from the definition. Regulation 3 applies Article 30 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (Special provision with respect to certain dangerous or intractable waste) to empower the Department of the Environment to make provision for waste which would be controlled waste but for the fact that it is radioactive waste within the meaning of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 and brings radioactive waste within the Regulations. Regulation 4 requires the Department to give unique codes to be applied to consignments of waste or to carrier’s rounds. These codes are to be shown, together with other required information, on consignment notes which are to accompany the waste when transported. The Department may delay assignment of a code until any fee required in respect of it has been paid. The provisions on codes do not implement any specific Community obligation. Regulations 5 to 12 and Schedule 1 provide for the completion and handling of consignment notes and for pre-notification to the Department of the consignment or carrier’s round. Carrier’s rounds consist of several consignments collected on the same journey and delivered to one place. Regulation 8 makes special provision in respect of the documentation required in connection with “carrier’s rounds”. Completion of such identification forms and their transport with waste are required by Article 5 of the Directive. The pre-notification provisions (regulations 5(2)(b), 8(2)(a)(ii) and 11) are not implementing specific Community obligations. Regulation 13 makes provision for the payment of fees in connection with the supply of codes under regulation 4. The amount is generally £24 per consignment or round and £10 where the waste consists entirely of lead acid batteries. Rounds of low quantity fulfilling certain conditions attract no fees. Where a code is given before a fee is paid for it, the person who requested the code is to pay the fee within two months of that request. Regulation 13 does not implement a Community obligation. Regulation 14 implements Article 4.3 of the Directive on the keeping of records by those consigning and carrying hazardous waste. They are both required to keep the documents for three years, although the Directive only requires carriers to keep records for at least twelve months. Together with regulation 15, it also implements the requirements of Article 2.1 of the Directive on the keeping of records for sites where hazardous waste is deposited. Regulation 16 prohibits the mixing of special waste with other waste or other categories of special waste except where this is authorised under, or exempted from the effect of, certain other waste legislation. This regulation is to implement Articles 2.2 and 2.3 of the Directive. Regulation 17 makes failure to comply with the Regulations a criminal offence except for an authorised person. There is a defence for those who take certain steps in cases of emergency or grave danger. The Department is made responsible by regulation 18 for supervising activities and persons subject to the Regulations. Insofar as they relate to provisions which implement Community obligations (as stated in this Note), these provisions are part of that implementation because their purpose is to make the implementation effective. Regulation 19 implements Article 4.1 of the Directive by the inspecting of producers of special waste by the Department. Regulations 20 to 22 and Schedule 3 make consequential amendments to, and revocations and savings in respect of, other legislation. Regulation 20 makes consequential amendment to regulations implementing Directive 85/337/EEC. Regulations 21 and 22 do not implement Community obligations.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits 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