UK Offence Report

Power to obtain information

regulation 32(6) of The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) 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

6 A person who —

a wilfully alters, suppresses, conceals or destroys

a document which he has been required by

a notice or order under this regulation to produce; or

b in complying with such

a notice or order, knowingly or recklessly makes any statement which is false in

a material particular, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly, wilfully).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, wilfully, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 32(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
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
8 November 2006
In force from
1 January 2007
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, which are made under section 82 of the Equality Act 2006, make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education and public functions. Sexual orientation is defined in regulation 2 as meaning sexual orientation towards persons of the same sex, persons of the opposite sex, or to both persons of the same sex and of the opposite sex. Direct discrimination, defined in regulation (3), occurs where a person is treated less favourably than another on grounds of sexual orientation. Indirect discrimination, defined in regulation (3)(1)(b), occurs where a provision, criterion or practice, which is applied generally, puts a person of a particular sexual orientation at a disadvantage and cannot be shown to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Regulation (3)(1)(c) deals with discrimination where a requirement or condition is applied which cannot be justified. Regulation (3)(3) defines harassment, which occurs when a person engages in unwanted conduct which has the purpose of violating the other’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Victimisation, defined in regulation 4, occurs where a person receives less favourable treatment than others by reason of the fact that he has brought (or given evidence in) proceedings, made an allegation or otherwise done anything under or by reference to the Regulations. Regulations 5 to 17 prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, premises, education and public functions. In particular they define examples (although not exclusively) of the sorts of facilities and services that might be covered by the Regulations. They deal also with the disposal and management of premises (regulation 6) and the various exceptions that apply to that area (regulations 7 & 8). They also extend the protections to those accessing education and educational facilities (regulation 9) and to those accessing public authorities (regulation 12), subject to certain exceptions (regulations 13, 14 & 15). Regulation 16 provides an exception to organisations relating to religion and belief, where the sole purpose of the unlawful action was to practice a religion or belief, to advance a religion or belief, to teach the principles of a religion or belief, to enable persons of a religion or belief to engage in any activity or receive a benefit within the framework of that religion or belief. It does not however extend the exception to organisations whose sole or main purpose is commercial. The Regulations also extend to associations and private members clubs (regulation 17). Regulations 19 to 25 deal with other unlawful acts, including discriminatory advertising (regulation 20), instructing others to commit unlawful acts (regulation 21) or pressuring others to commit unlawful acts (regulation 22). Regulation 23 deals with liability of employers and principals and makes acts committed by an employee treated as if they had been done by his employer as well by as him. Regulation 24 makes it an offence to aid an act made unlawful by virtue of these Regulations and regulation 25 makes a contract, or terms of a contract, void if they include an act made unlawful by these Regulations. Regulation 26 deals with charities and provides an exception for them from any provision contained within regulations 5 to 17 in so far as the charity was established to confer a benefit on a particular group by virtue of sexual orientation. Regulations 27 to 34 deal with the role of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Amongst other things they provide the ECNI with a duty to promote equality of opportunity between persons of differing sexual orientations, provides them with the power to undertake or assist research and education and provide assistance (regulation 28) and with the power to issue codes of practice if they think fit (regulation 29). They are also given the power to conduct formal investigations (regulation 30). Regulations 36 to 48 deal with the enforcement of the Regulations. As these Regulations deal with matters that fall only to goods, facilities and services, any legal recourse will be for a claim in tort for breach of a statutory duty, except where specific criminal offences are created (regulations 20-22). In both cases recourse will be through the county court. The ECNI is given powers to issue non-discrimination notices (regulation 37) and to deal with the compliance of those notices (regulation 39). Enforcement of regulations 19-22 will only be by the ECNI (regulation 43). Regulation 42 and Schedules 1 and 2 include a questionnaire procedure to assist complainants in obtaining information from respondents, and regulation 45 provides the ECNI with power to provide assistance (legal or otherwise) to claimants under these Regulations. Regulation 46 deals with the timescales within which cases should be brought. Regulations 49 to 51 provide general exceptions to the Regulations for differences of treatment related to safeguarding national security or protecting public order and public safety. They also provide exceptions for indirect access to benefits, and acts done under statutory authority. Regulation 52 deals with burden of proof in the county court and regulation 53 deals with Crown application. Regulation 54 covers the extent of the Regulations. A Regulatory Impact Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been placed in the Library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies may be obtained from: Equality, Rights and Social Needs Division, Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, Room E3.19, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3SR.

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