UK Offence Report

Conditions as to matters required to be notified

regulation 7A(3) of The Road Transport (Qualifications of Operators) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

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 Any person who contravenes any condition attached under this section to

a licence of which he is the holder is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 a condition of a licence, permit or consent
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 7A(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes any condition attached under this section to a licence of which he is the holder.
  2. Holding a valid licence but doing the thing it allows outside the hours, place or limits its conditions set under the Road Transport (Qualifications of Operators) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.
  3. Failing to do something a condition positively requires - a record, a notification, a monitoring step - even though the licensed activity itself is carried on properly.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
7 April 2003
In force from
21 May 2003
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 amend Parts II, III and IV of the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (“the 1967 Act”) to implement Council Directive 98/76/EC of 1st October 1998 (O.J. No. L277, 14th October 1998, page 17) amending Council Directive 96/26/EC of 29th April 1996 on admission to the occupation of road freight operator and road passenger transport operator in national and international transport operations (O.J. No. L124, 23rd May 1996, page 1). The principal changes to the 1967 Act made by the Regulations are as follows: 1 Sections 6A(2) and (3) and 28A(2) and (3) are amended so as to disapply the requirement that the person responsible for the operation of vehicles under a road service licence or a road freight operator’s licence must be in the full-time employment of the holder of the licence. 2 A new section 7A has been inserted which will enable the Department to attach conditions requiring a road service licence holder to inform it of any changes which could affect the fulfilment of the requirements of good repute, financial standing and professional competence. 3 Section 46A has been consolidated and divided into six sections. 4 Subsection (2) of section 46B (good repute of road freight and road passenger transport operators) requires the Department to determine that an individual is not of good repute if he has – a more than one conviction of an offence for which a sentence of imprisonment of more than 3 months, a fine exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or a community service order is imposed (“a serious offence”); or b been convicted of offences in or outside the United Kingdom relating to road transport, and particularly in this context offences concerning the drivers' hours rules, the weights, dimensions and taxation of a commercial vehicle, road or vehicle safety, protection of the environment or professional liability (“road transport offences”). 5 Subsection (2) of section 46C (financial standing of road freight and road passenger transport operators) specifies the minimum capital and reserves that must be available to an applicant for, or holder of, a road service licence or a road freight operator’s licence authorising the use of vehicles for international operations if he is to be considered to be of appropriate financial standing. 6 Section 46D(1) (professional competence of road passenger transport operators), in relation to a road service licence, and section 46E(1) (professional competence of road freight operators), in relation to a road freight operator’s licence, specify that an individual shall only be regarded as professionally competent if he has passed a written examination (which may be supplemented by an oral examination) which demonstrates knowledge corresponding to the level of training provided for in the subjects listed in the new Annex I to Council Directive 96/26/EC. 7 Section 46F contains a savings provision in relation to certificates of professional competence. A number of provisions are revoked as a consequence of these Regulations (regulation 8). Copies of the EC Directives referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from TSO, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD.

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