UK Offence Report

Unauthorised cards

regulation 7(4) of The Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) (Tachograph Card) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

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 A person who does not surrender

a card in accordance with paragraph (1) commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 7(4)?

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 does not surrender a card in accordance with paragraph (1).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) (Tachograph Card) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

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
24 January 2007
In force from
8 March 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 make provision in relation to the cards (company cards, control cards, driver cards and workshop cards) used with digital tachographs, which are tachographs complying with Annex IB to Regulation (EEC) 3821/85. New vehicles, that are required to be fitted with tachographs, have been required to be fitted with digital tachographs since 1 May 2006 (Regulation 561/2006). They prohibit the use by a person of more than one driver card, of a driver card of which he is not the holder, of a forged or altered card and of a card issued as a result of an incorrect application. Making a false statement in an application for a card is also prohibited. Contravention is an offence, the penalty depending on the nature of the breach (regulation 3). They prohibit the use by a person of more than one workshop card, or PIN, for each workshop in which he works, of a workshop card or PIN of which he is not the holder or in a place which is not his workplace, of a forged or altered card and of a card issued as a result of an incorrect application. They also prohibit the divulging of a PIN. Contravention is an offence, the penalty depending on the nature of the breach (regulation 4). Causing or permitting a person to breach such prohibitions is also prohibited, the maximum penalty being, if the offender is convicted summarily, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; or if the offender is convicted on indictment, imprisonment up to two years, a fine, or both (regulations 3 and 4). They require written notification of lost or stolen cards to be given to the Department and the return to it of damaged or malfunctioning cards. Failure to comply is an offence for which the maximum penalty is level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 5). They require a card holder to notify the Department of details on the card requiring correction and to return it for correction. The Department may also require the return of cards issued erroneously for correction. Failure to comply is an offence for which the maximum penalty is level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 6). A card which identifies another person as the holder, which has been falsified or which has been issued as a result of a false application must be surrendered or may be confiscated by a constable or vehicle examiner. Failure to surrender such a card is an offence for which the maximum penalty is level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 7). Copies of the Commission Regulations referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from TSO, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations as they have no significant impact on the costs of 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