UK Offence Report

Explosives Act 1875

paragraph 1(4) of SCHEDULE 6 of The Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

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

4 In section 43 (power to prohibit manufacture, storage and carriage of specially dangerous explosives)—

a omit “, either absolutely, or except in pursuance of

a license of the Secretary of State under this Act”; and

b for the words from “Provided that” to “conveyance of explosives” substitute “A person who manufactures, keeps or conveys any explosive in contravention of any such Order shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the penalties specified in Article 31(4) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.”.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 paragraph 1(4) of SCHEDULE 6?

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 manufactures, keeps or conveys any explosive in contravention of any such Order.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. 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 in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
19 October 2006
In force from
1 December 2006
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 make new provision for licensing the manufacture and storage of explosives and for registration in respect of the storage of explosives. As such, they repeal a large number of provisions contained in the Explosives Act 1875 (“the 1875 Act”) and instruments made under it, which provided the framework for the previous regulatory regime in relation to the manufacture and storage of explosives. The definition of explosive in regulation 2(1) does not include acetylene, which continues to be regulated under provisions of the 1875 Act and instruments made under it. The document “the United Nations Recommendations”, to which the definition of “explosive” refers, and the Manual of Tests and Criteria, fourth edition, which supports those Recommendations, can be obtained from TSO Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast, BT1 4GD. Subject to certain disapplications, a person wishing to store explosives must maintain the relevant separation distance prescribed by Schedule 1 between a store and buildings and other places not on the site where the storage takes place (regulation 5). “Separation distance” is defined in regulation 2(1). As before, a person wishing to manufacture or store explosives requires a licence or certificate of registration to do so (regulations 9 and 10). This requirement is subject to the disapplications included in regulations 9 and 10. In certain cases the public hearing procedure is required before a licence may be granted (regulations 11(4) and (5), and 12). Where a smaller quantity of explosives is to be stored, a person may apply to the Secretary of State for registration rather than seeking a licence for it (regulation 13). Grounds for refusing a licence or registration or varying a licence are set out in, respectively, regulations 14 and 15. The grounds for revoking a licence or registration are set out in regulation 16. Licences and registrations may be transferred (regulation 18). Fees are payable for the issue, variation (licences only), transfer or replacement of licences and certificates of registration (regulation 19 and Schedule 4). The Secretary of State is required to maintain a register of certain information relating to licences granted or certificates of registration issued by him (regulation 21 and Schedule 5). Prohibitions concerning explosives are contained in regulations 23 and 24. Power to grant exemptions from the requirements or prohibitions imposed by the Regulations is included under regulation 25. Regulation 26 contains savings and transitional provisions so that, for example, licences granted under the 1875 Act which were valid immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations continue in operation on their existing terms subject to any variation, revocation or their expiry. Amendments to legislation are made by regulation 27(1) and Schedule 6. Repeals and revocations of legislation are made by regulation 27(2) and (3) and Schedule 7. A person who contravenes the Regulations or any requirement or prohibition under them is guilty of an offence under Article 31 of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. A copy of the regulatory impact assessment in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from Firearms and Explosives Branch, Room B4.16, Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3SG.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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