UK Offence Report

Amendment of Slavery or Human Trafficking Offences and Relevant UK Orders

article 4(3) of The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Amendment of Slavery or Human Trafficking Offences and Relevant UK Orders) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016

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

3 After sub-paragraph (1)(b), and before the words “commits an offence”, insert— c a slavery and trafficking prevention order within the meaning of sections 14 and 15 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, d an interim slavery and trafficking prevention order within the meaning of section 21 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, e a slavery and trafficking risk order within the meaning of section 23 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, f an interim slavery and trafficking risk order within the meaning of section 28 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, g a trafficking and exploitation prevention order within the meaning of sections 17 and 18 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, h an interim trafficking and exploitation prevention order within the meaning of section 24 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, i a trafficking and exploitation risk order within the meaning of section 26 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, or j an interim trafficking and exploitation risk order within the meaning of section 30 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 4(3)?

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 Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Amendment of Slavery or Human Trafficking Offences and Relevant UK Orders) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016.

Penalty

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

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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 February 2016
In force from
Not determined
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 definition of a slavery or human trafficking offence under paragraph 1(4) of Schedule 3 to the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (“the 2015 Act”), allowing the courts in Northern Ireland to make slavery and trafficking prevention orders in respect of those convicted of slavery or human trafficking offences in other jurisdictions within the United Kingdom. This Order also amends paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 3 to the 2015 Act to allow the courts in Northern Ireland to enforce equivalent or similar civil orders which have been made by the courts in Great Britain. These include: slavery and trafficking prevention orders and interim slavery and trafficking prevention orders which have been made by the courts in England and Wales, and trafficking and exploitation prevention orders and interim trafficking and exploitation prevention orders made by the courts in Scotland. The Order provides that risk orders made in England and Wales, or Scotland, which may be imposed were an individual has not been convicted of a slavery or human trafficking offence, are enforceable in Northern Ireland. Breach of these orders will constitute a criminal offence in Northern Ireland, punishable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory minimum, or both. Conviction on indictment will attract imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

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 “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