UK Offence Report

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 1 of The Gas and Electricity Licence Modification and Appeals Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

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 wilfully alters, suppresses or destroys

a document that that person has been required to produce under paragraph

6 is guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

a on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

b on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or to

a fine, or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: wilfully; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

efaulter’s defence, it is satisfied that the defaulter did, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply with the notice or other requirement, or made the false statement, or gave the false information, that court may punish that defaulter as if the person had been guilty of contempt of court. 3 Where the High Court has power under this paragraph

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 wilfully alters, suppresses or destroys a document that that person has been required to produce under paragraph 6.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Gas and Electricity Licence Modification and Appeals Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
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
5 January 2015
In force from
6 February 2015
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 are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. They make amendments to the electricity and gas regulatory regimes in Northern Ireland in order to amend the existing powers of the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (‘the Authority’) to modify the licence conditions of gas and electricity licensees. The Regulations replace the existing powers and procedures in The Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“the 1996 Order”) and The Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”), and provide a right of appeal for specified parties to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (“the CMA”) following a decision by the Authority to modify the conditions of a gas or electricity licence. In Part 1, regulation 1 covers the citation and commencement of the Regulations. Regulation2 contains the interpretation provision for the Regulations. In Part 2, regulation 3(1) substitutes Article 14 of the 1996 Order (Modification by agreement) with new Articles 14 to 14G. The new Article 14 provides that the Authority may modify the standard and special conditions of a gas licence issued under Article 8(1) of that Order following consultation on the proposed amendments, and having considered any responses to that consultation duly made. The new Article 14A makes supplementary provision to Article 14, including provision for consequential amendments to be made to licences. Where a standard condition is modified, the Authority is under a duty to make, and publish, that modification in the standard conditions of future licences. Such modifications have effect subject to the giving of a direction by the CMA under paragraph 2 of new Schedule 3A to the Order directing the suspension of a modification decision by the Authority pending the determination of an appeal in relation to that modification decision. Articles 14B to 14G specify the procedure for parties to appeal to the CMA against a decision of the Authority to amend the conditions of a licence under Article 14. Regulation 3(2) repeals Articles 15 to 17A of the 1996 Order. Regulation 3(3) and Schedule 1 to the Regulations inserts new Schedule 3A into the 1996 Order (Procedure for Appeals under Article 14B). Schedule 3A provides the procedure for making an application for permission to appeal, including the process for any application for the suspension of a decision to modify licence conditions prior to the determination of an appeal, and the powers of the CMA, including powers to require evidence under oath and require the production of specified documentation. In Part 3, regulation 4(1) substitutes Article 14 of the 1992 Order (Modification by agreement) with new Articles 14 to 14G. The new Article 14 provides that the Authority may modify the standard and special conditions of an electricity licence issued under Article 10(1) of that Order following consultation on the proposed amendments, and having considered any responses to that consultation duly made. The new Article 14A makes supplementary provision to Article 14, including provision for consequential amendments to be made to licences. Where a standard condition is modified, the Authority is under a duty to make and publish that modification in the standard conditions of future licences. Such modifications have effect subject to the giving of the direction by the CMA under paragraph 2 of new Schedule 5A to the Order (directing the suspension of a modification decision by the Authority pending the determination of an appeal in relation to that modification decision). Articles 14B to 14G specify the procedure for parties to appeal to the CMA against a decision of the Authority to amend the conditions of a licence under Article 14 of the Order. Regulation 4(2) repeals Articles 15 to 17A of the 1992 Order. Regulation 4(3) and Schedule 2 to the Regulations inserts a new Schedule 5A (Procedure for appeal under Article 14B) into the 1992 Order. Schedule 5A provides the procedure for making an application for permission to appeal, including any application for the suspension of a decision to modify licence conditions prior to the determination of an appeal, and the powers of the CMA, including powers to require evidence under oath and require the production of specified documentation. In Part 4, regulations 5 and 6 make savings provision in relation to existing references, and consultation commenced by the Authority under Articles 14 of the 1996 and 1992 Orders. Regulations 7 and 8 create transitional powers for the Authority, with the consent of the Department, to modify existing gas and electricity licences. Part 5 makes consequential changes to the 1992 and 1996 Orders and to the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.

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 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