UK Offence Report

Offence and level of fine

regulation 8 of The Bus and Coach Passengers Rights and Obligations (Designation of Terminals, Tour Operators and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

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

8 A terminal managing body, travel agent or tour operator who contravenes Regulation 181/2011 or fails to comply with

a notice issued under Regulation

7 shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to comply with a notice or direction
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; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

What would breach regulation 8?

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 contravenes Regulation 181/2011 or fails to comply with a notice issued under Regulation 7.
  2. Being served with a notice under the Bus and Coach Passengers Rights and Obligations (Designation of Terminals, Tour Operators and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  3. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  4. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
26 June 2014
In force from
28 July 2014
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 give effect to Articles 12 and 28 of Regulation (EU) No. 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16th February 2011 concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport and amending regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 (“Regulation 181/2011”). This is directly applicable in member states. These Regulations also provide for the operational implementation of Regulation 181/2011 in relation to the designation of terminals, travel agents, tour operators and the complaints handling and enforcement of these aspects of the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport. Regulation 4 designates that the Europa Buscentre, Great Victoria Street, Belfast shall be designated for the purposes of Article 12 of Regulation 181/2011. Regulation 5 implements Article 28(1) of Regulation 181/2011 by designating the Departments of Regional Development and Enterprise, Trade and Investment as being responsible for enforcement of Regulation 181/2011 and gives those Departments the right to ask for information to assist them in carrying out their functions. Regulation 6 implements Article 28(3) of Regulation 181/2011 by designating certain bodies to which complaints may be made by passengers about alleged infringements of Regulation 181/2011. Regulation 7 implements in part Article 31 of Regulation 181/2011 by establishing enforcement measures. Regulation 8 also implements Article 31 of Regulation 181/2011 by setting penalties applicable to those found guilty of infringements of Regulation 181/2011 or failing to comply with a notice issued under regulation 7. Regulation 9 enables persons who have suffered an infringement of their rights under Regulation 181/2011 to seek compensation separately from any criminal penalty that may be imposed.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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