UK Offence Report

Making of false statements etc.

regulation 23(1) of The Railways Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (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

1 If any person, in giving any information or making any application under or for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations, makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, he is guilty of an offence and shall be liable – a on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; b on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 23(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Railways Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.
  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
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 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 implement Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29th July 1991 (O.J. No. L237, 24.8.91, p. 25) on the development of the Community’s railways and Council Directives 95/18/EC and 95/19/EC of 19th June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings and on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the charging of infrastructure fees (O.J. No. L143/75, 27.6.95, p. 70-75). The Regulations require any railway undertaking which is also an infrastructure manager to prepare and maintain accounts separately for the provision of transport services and infrastructure management (regulation 4), and require the infrastructure manager to ensure that the expenditure on railway infrastructure he incurs does not exceed the income he receives from infrastructure fees (regulation 5). They lay down requirements as to the fees to be charged by the infrastructure manager for the use of railway undertakings who will in return provide the Department with such information as it needs to determine whether fees are charged on a non-discriminatory basis (regulations 6 and 7 and Schedule 1). The Department is designated as the allocation body for Northern Ireland responsible for handling applications for railway infrastructure capacity (regulation 8). Detailed procedures for the handling of applications for infrastructure capacity are specified in regulation 9 where the application is made to the allocation body for Northern Ireland, and in regulation 10 where the application is made elsewhere in the European Union. Access or transit rights will only be granted subject to an agreement being entered into with the infrastructure manager (regulation 9(11)) which will include the applicant providing a safety certificate issued by the Department as specified in regulation 11. Railway undertakings aggrieved by a decision of an allocation body may appeal against that decision (regulation 12). The unlicensed provision of international services is made a criminal offence (regulation 13). The Department is appointed as the authority to issue international licences (regulation 14). Applicants for such licences must satisfy requirements as to good repute, professional competence, financial fitness and third party liabilities (regulation 14 and Schedule 2). Such licences are valid for as long as the licence holder complies with these Regulations and any licence conditions (regulation 16). The Department is empowered to monitor and suspend or revoke such licences in certain circumstances (regulation 17). International groupings and railways undertakings are given statutory authority in respect of the provision of international services in exercise of rights granted under the regulations (regulation 19). Such groupings and undertakings are not to be common carriers in respect of the provision of such services (regulation 20). Any person affected by a refusal or failure to comply with obligations arising under the regulations referred to in regulation 22, and who suffers loss or damage caused by the refusal or failure, may bring a civil action, and the Department may seek to enforce compliance by civil proceedings for an injunction (regulation 22). It is an offence knowingly to provide false information under or for the purpose of the Regulations (regulation 23). Copies of the above noted Directives may be obtained from TSO, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GN.

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 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