UK Offence Report

1 It is an offence for a person to— a contravene regulation4; b fail to comply with the requirements of a…

regulation 25(1) of Water Abstraction and Impoundment (Licensing) 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

1 It is an offence for

a person to—

a contravene regulation4;

b fail to comply with the requirements of

a notice issued under regulation20(2);

c intentionally to make

a false entry in any record required to be kept as

a condition of

a licence;

d with intent to deceive, forge or use

a document issued or authorised to be issued under

a condition of

a licence or required for any purpose under

a condition of such

a licence or to make or have in that person’s possession

a document so closely resembling any such document so as to be likely to deceive;

e cause any person to commit an offence under sub-paragraphs(b) to (d) .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (intentionally, with intent to).

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: intentionally, with intent to.

What would breach regulation 25(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 Water Abstraction and Impoundment (Licensing) 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
27 November 2006
In force from
1 February 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 set out a control regime for regulating the abstraction of water from underground strata or waterways and the construction, alteration or operation of impounding works, referred to in the Regulations as “controlled activities”. Part 1 sets out general provisions. Regulation 3 provides for exemptions and Regulation 4 prohibits the carrying on of any controlled activity unless authorised under the Regulations. Part 2 describes the types of authorisations which are available under the Regulations in respect of controlled activities. Any controlled activity mentioned in Schedule 1 is authorised under the Regulations provided it is carried on in accordance with any conditions specified in respect of it. These types of authorisation are referred to in the Regulations as “permitted controlled activities”. Otherwise (and providing that they are not exempt under regulation 3) controlled activities require a licence under regulation 10. Part 4 of the Regulations makes provision for licence applications and their determination. It includes provision relating to advertisement in cases where the controlled activity is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment (regulation 9) and for consideration of the impact of the proposed controlled activity on any site protected under the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations (N.I) 1995 (regulations 11 and 12). Provision is also made for the review of licences granted under the Regulations and for their modification, transfer, surrender and revocation. Part 5 makes provision for the enforcement of the Regulations. Regulation 20 enables the Department to issue enforcement notices to ensure compliance with the Regulations and to remedy or prevent significant adverse impacts on the water environment. Where such enforcement notices require the carrying out of work on land other than that owned by the person on whom the notice is served, provision is made in regulation 22 entitling the owner of that land to compensation for the access which he is obliged under the Regulations to provide. Regulation 23 makes provision for DOE to take proceedings in the High Court against a person who has failed to comply with the requirements of an enforcement notice where it considers prosecution for such failure would not afford an effectual remedy. Part 6 deals with the registration by DOE of various matters dealt with under the Regulations. Part 7 makes provision in relation to offences and includes provision enabling a court, in addition to, or instead of, imposing a punishment to order the convicted person to carry out steps to mitigate or remedy the adverse impact on the water environment resulting from the commission of the offence. Regulation 29 makes provision for appeals. Regulation 30 introduces transitional provisions which are contained in Schedule 4. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in connection with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from Environmental Policy Division, Department of the Environment, 12th Floor, River House, High Street, Belfast, BT1 2DR.

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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”; the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.96 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