UK Offence Report

Amendment to regulation 5 (saving for regulation 78 of the 1989 Regulations (over-riding weight restrictions))

regulation 5 of Motor Vehicles (Authorised Weight) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

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

5 For regulation

5 of the principal Regulations there shall be substituted the following— Compliance with regulation

93 of the 1999 Regulations (over-riding weight restrictions) 5

1 Subject to paragraph (2), nothing in these Regulations shall prejudice or affect regulation

93 of the 1999 Regulations and

a person using or permitting

a vehicle to be used contrary to the provisions of that regulation commits an offence even if the weights authorised by these Regulations are not exceeded.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 5?

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 Motor Vehicles (Authorised Weight) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, 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
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
15 January 2002
In force from
28 February 2002
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 give effect in Northern Ireland to the proposals in “Transport 2010, The 10 Year Plan” (published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions on 20th July 2000) relating to the introduction of 44 tonne motor vehicles and trailers into the United Kingdom. They amend the Motor Vehicles (Authorised Weight) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 258) to permit the use of such vehicles from 28th February 2002 and make consequential amendments. The Regulations also provide safeguards against the misuse of current axle lift technology and the emission of pollutants. Regulation 2 amends regulation 2 (interpretation) by introducing a new definition of an “axle-lift device” to reflect the requirements of Directive 97/27/EC and of a “low pollutant engine” which incorporates the new system requirements for the Euro II engine specified in Directive 91/542/EEC (which amends Directive 88/77/EEC). Regulation 3 substitutes regulation 3 (application of Regulations) in order to correct a drafting error and update a legislative reference. Regulation 4 amends regulation 4 (maximum authorised weights) to ensure that an offence may be committed by non-compliance with the new requirements in Schedule 3 even if the vehicle complies with regulations 87 to 91 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 454). Regulation 5 provides that regulation 93 of S.R.1999 No. 454 is not contravened when a vehicle is operated in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 3. Regulation 6 inserts into Schedule 2 (maximum authorised weights for vehicle combinations) entries for vehicle combinations with a maximum authorised weight of 44 tonnes, and adds a requirement for the use of a low pollutant engine. Regulation 7 introduces maximum authorised weight and other requirements for retractable and loadable axles, with special provisions for the moving off by vehicles on slippery slopes. These Regulations have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to European Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC of 22nd June 1998 (O.J. No. L204, 21.7.98, p. 37) as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 98/48/EC of 20th July 1998 (O.J. No. L217, 5.8.98, p. 18) laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services. Copies of the EC Directives referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from Vehicle Standards and Agencies Policy Branch, Room G26, Clarence Court, 10-18 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8GB (telephone (028) 9054 0074, fax (028) 9054 0020). A copy has been placed in the library of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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