UK Offence Report

Notice requiring application for consent to be made

paragraph 43(5) of SCHEDULE 4 of The Planning (Control of Advertisements) 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

5 Where a copy of a notice under this section has been served on the person referred to in subsection (4), then if the application referred to in the notice is not made to the council within the period allowed for compliance with the notice, that person 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 paragraph 43(5) of SCHEDULE 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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.

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
17 February 2015
In force from
1 April 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 replace the Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”). Paragraph (1) of regulation 3 requires councils to exercise their powers under the Regulations in the interests of amenity and public safety. Paragraph (3) of regulation 3 allows account to be taken of any material change in circumstances likely to occur within the period for which the consent is required or granted. Paragraph (5) of regulation 3 specifies the effect of consent for the display of advertisements. Paragraph (1) of regulation 4 prohibits the display of advertisements unless the display has either deemed consent (Part 2 of the Regulations) or express consent (Part 3 of the Regulations), unless the advertisement is one to which paragraph (2) of regulation 4 applies. Paragraph (2) of regulation 4 specifies cases in which Parts 2 and 3 of the Regulations do not apply. Where the display of an advertisement within any of the Classes in Schedule 2 except Class F complies with the conditions and limitations specified in that Schedule as applicable to advertisements of that Class and also with the conditions specified in Schedule 1 (“the standard conditions”), Parts 2 and 3 of the Regulations do not apply. Those Parts do not apply to Class F advertisements if the conditions and limitations set out in Schedule 2 for that Class are met and if the requirements of paragraphs 1 to 3 and 5 of the standard conditions are complied with. In Part 2, regulation 5 grants deemed consent for the display of an advertisement of any class specified in Part 1 of Schedule 3, subject to the standard conditions and the conditions and limitations specified in Part 1 of Schedule 3 in relation to that class and: a (except in the case of an advertisement within Class 13) the standard conditions; b in the case of an advertisement within Class 13, paragraphs 1 to 3 and 5 of the standard conditions. Regulation 6 enables a council to ask the Department to direct that express consent is required before advertisements for which deemed consent would otherwise be available may be displayed. Directions may not be given in respect of advertisements in Class 10 (advertisements inside buildings) or 12 (advertisements on sites used for preceding ten years for display of advertisements without consent) in Part 1 of Schedule 3. There are procedures for giving notice of proposals for directions, and of the making of directions. Regulation 7 enables a council to remedy what appears to the council to be a substantial injury to the amenity of the locality or a danger to members of the public, by serving a discontinuance notice. A discontinuance notice may require the display of a particular advertisement for which there is deemed consent, or the use of a particular site for the display of advertisements for which there is deemed consent, to be discontinued. Part 3 of the Regulations deals with express consent for the display of advertisements. Paragraph (1) of regulation 8 applies, with modifications, section 40 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (“the 2011 Act”) to applications for consent to display advertisements. The modifications are specified in Part 1 of Schedule 4, and the provisions of that section, as so modified, are set out in Part 2 of that Schedule. Paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 8 specify how an application for express consent must be made and what must be included in the application. Regulation 9 enables the Department to give directions to a council, either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of case, specifying the kinds of particulars, plans or information that are to accompany an application for express consent. Regulation 10 requires the council to consult before granting express consent. Regulation 11 sets out a council’s powers once an application has been received. Paragraph (1) of regulation 12 deals with applications by interested councils (defined in section 107 of the 2011 Act). Regulation 13 specifies the steps to be taken by a council once express consent has been granted. Regulation 14 deals with notices requiring applications to be made. Sections 43 and 44 of the 2011 Act are applied with the modifications specified in Part 1 of Schedule 4. The provisions of those sections as so modified are set out in Part 2 of that Schedule. Regulation 15 deals with appeals to the planning appeals commission. Sections 58 to 60 of the 2011 Act are applied with the modifications specified in Part 1 of Schedule 4. The provisions of those sections as so modified are set out in Part 2 of that Schedule. Regulation 16 enables a council to make an order revoking or modifying an express consent. Such an order has no effect unless it is approved by the Department. Sections 68 to 70 of the 2011 Act are applied with the modifications specified in Part 1 of Schedule 4. The provisions of those sections as so modified are set out in Part 2 of that Schedule. Regulation 17 deals with claims for compensation arising from an order revoking or modifying an express consent. Section 26 of the Land Development Values (Compensation) Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 is applied with the modifications specified in Part 3 of Schedule 4. The provisions of that section as so modified are set out in Part 4 of that Schedule. Regulation 18 allows the use of electronic communications for making applications and sending certain notices under the Regulations, subject to specified conditions. In Part 5, regulation 19 enables the Department to make a discontinuance order. Regulation 20 enables the Department to make a discontinuance order in respect of the display of advertisements by a council. Regulation 21 revokes the 1992 Regulations.

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