UK Offence Report

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 1 of The Insolvent Partnerships (Amendment) Order (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

7 An administrator commits an offence if he fails without reasonable excuse to comply with sub-paragraph (5).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
acting without the licence or authorisation required
Fault element
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no fault word in the offence-creating words, but the surrounding provision uses reasonably practicable - which element it governs was not determined; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised); absence of consent (an element).

The defence, as drafted

7 An administrator commits an offence if he fails without reasonable excuse to comply with sub-paragraph (5).

What would breach SCHEDULE 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. On these words an offence is committed where a person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with sub-paragraph (5).
  2. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Insolvent Partnerships (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006.
  3. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  4. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
13 December 2006
In force from
8 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This order amends the Insolvent Partnerships Order (Northern Ireland) 1995 (S.R. 1995 No. 225) (“the 1995 Order”). The following are the main changes made to the 1995 Order. Article 4 substitutes Article 6 of the 1995 Order to take account of the amendment to Part III of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19)) (“the 1989 Order”) by Article 3 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1455 (N.I. 10)) (“the 2005 Order”). Article 3 of the 2005 Order substituted Part III of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19)). The substituted Part III consists only of Article 21 which gives effect to Schedule B1 to the Order, which was set out in Schedule 1 to the 2005 Order. Schedule B1 makes provision for companies to go into administration by court order on an administration application or upon the appointment of an administrator by the company, its directors or the holder of a qualifying floating charge. Article 7 of this Order gives effect to Schedule 1 to this Order which substitutes Schedule 2 of the 1995 Order (modified provisions of the Order applying for purposes of Article 6). The substituted Schedule 2 contains modifications to Schedule B1 to the 1989 Order. Article 5 amends Article 10 of the 1995 Order to remove a reference to summary administration consequent upon the abolition of that procedure by the 2005 Order. Article 6 amends Schedule 1 to the 1995 Order consequent upon the changes to administration in the 2005 Order. Article 6(4) amends the provisions of modified Schedule A1 to take account of changes to the definition of small to medium enterprises in the Companies (1986 Order) (Accounts of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Audit Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (S.R. 2004 No. 190). Article 8 amends Schedule 3 to the 1995 Order consequent upon amendments made in the 2005 Order. Article 9 amends Schedule 4 to the 1995 Order to provide for the modified application of Articles 256A and 286A of the 1989 Order which were inserted by the 2005 Order regarding treatment of the matrimonial home in bankruptcy. Articles 10 and 11 amend the application of Article 185 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to ensure that the requirement to set aside a “prescribed part” (Article 150A of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989) does not apply to the winding up of an insolvent partnership. Article 12 amends Schedule 7 to the 1995 Order to remove references to summary administration consequent upon the abolition of that procedure by the 2005 Order, and to make provision for the application of Articles 256A and 286A of the 1989 Order as inserted by the 2005 Order regarding treatment of the matrimonial home in bankruptcy. Article 13 amends Schedule 8 to the 1995 Order (modification of Company Directors Disqualification (Northern Ireland) Order 2002) consequent upon amendments made by the 2005 Order. Article 14 and Schedule 2 provide for modified Forms for the administration of Insolvent Partnerships. Article 15 amends Schedule 10 to the 1995 Order to reflect the revocation and legislative replacement of certain applicable subordinate legislation. No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for this Order as it will not impose any significant costs on business.

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 “commits 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