UK Offence Report

1 It shall be an offence for a operator of a landfill to contravene – a regulation 9 as applied by paragraph…

regulation 17(1) of The Landfill 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

1 It shall be an offence for

a operator of

a landfill to contravene –

a regulation

9 as applied by paragraph 1(14) of Schedule 4;

b regulation

12 as applied by paragraph 3(3)(a) of Schedule 4;

c regulation 10(1) or (2) in both cases as applied by paragraph 3(3)(b) of Schedule 4; or

d paragraph 3(5) of Schedule 4.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 17(1)?

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 Landfill Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£30,000
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
5 years

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
1 December 2003
In force from
6 January 2004
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 set out a pollution control regime for landfills for the purpose of implementing Council Directive 99/31/EC on the landfill of waste (“the Landfill Directive”) in Northern Ireland. Landfills have recently been made subject to either the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (the 2003 Regulations) which implemented Council Directive 96/61/EC concerning Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (“the IPPC Directive”) and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003. Part 1 of the Regulations sets out the preliminary provisions. Regulation 3 sets out their scope (subject to the certain exceptions contained in regulation 4). Regulation 5 requires the Department’s Planning Service to take the location requirements of these Regulations into consideration when granting planning permission for landfills. Regulation 6 amends the 2003 Regulations so that all landfills covered by these Regulations are Part A installations for the purposes of those Regulations and therefore require a permit under those Regulations. The powers to set conditions in permits under the 2003 Regulations are disapplied for landfills as alternative powers are included in these Regulations. Part 2 deals with conditions to be included in landfill permits. Regulation 7 requires the Chief Inspector to classify landfills as for hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste or inert waste. Regulation 8 sets out the requirements for conditions to be incorporated in landfill permits. These include conditions for ensuring compliance by landfill operators with the relevant requirements of these Regulations which are set out in remaining regulations in this Part and Schedules 1 (Waste Acceptance Criteria), 2 (General Requirements for Landfill Monitoring) and 3 (Monitoring Procedures for Landfills). Regulation 16 provides for closure notices which may be used by the Chief Inspector to require closure of landfills. Part 3 contains miscellaneous provisions. Regulation 17 creates offences where waste is accepted contrary to the requirements which apply directly to landfill operators under paragraph 1(14), 3(3) and (5) of Schedule 4. Schedule 4 contains transitional provisions for existing landfills. It sets up a procedure for operators of landfills that will remain operational after the relevant date to bring their operations into compliance with the relevant requirements of these Regulations. Sites that cannot comply will be closed, while the remainder will be granted new permits in accordance with these Regulations as soon as possible within a transitional period up to 31st March 2007 for IPPC landfills and 16th July 2009 for non-IPPC landfills. Schedule 5 makes amendments to other subordinate legislation. Amendments are made to the 2003 Regulations and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (which covers those landfills previously not subject to the 2003 Regulations) to deal with the introduction of the requirements of these Regulations. Amendments are also made to the “fit and proper person” test applied by regulation 4 of the 2003 Regulations relating to arrangements an operator has to have in place to ensure the landfill is properly managed and financed.

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 0.90.

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