UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

regulation 3(5)(e) of The Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Tachographs) (Amendment) Regulations (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

e after paragraph (4A) insert— 4B A person shall not be liable to be convicted under paragraph (1) by reason of using recording equipment which does not bear

a type-approval mark issued under Article

14 of the EU Tachographs Regulation if he proves to the court that the use of the recording equipment was in the course of

a field test authorised under regulation 2A. 4C Where

a person (“the driver”)—

a in the course of the driver’s employment, uses

a vehicle in contravention of paragraph (1); and

b is liable to be convicted under that paragraph in respect of that use, the employer also commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale. 4D A person shall not be liable to be convicted under paragraph (4C) in respect of the use of

a vehicle if the requirements of Article 10(1) and (2) of the Community Drivers’ Hours Regulation (liability of transport undertakings) and Article 33(1) of the EU Tachographs Regulation (responsibility of transport undertakings) were complied with in relation to that use. ;

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

rk issued under Article 14 of the EU Tachographs Regulation if he proves to the court that the use of the recording equipment was in the course of a field test authorised under regulation 2A. 4C Where a person (“the driver”)— a in the course of the driver’s employment, uses a vehicle in contravention of paragraph (1); and b is lia

What would breach regulation 3(5)(e)?

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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Tachographs) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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
20 September 2016
In force from
31 October 2016
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 facilitate the implementation of Regulation (EU) No. 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on tachographs in road transport, repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3281/85 on recording equipment in road transport and amending Regulation (EC) No. 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport. Regulation (EU) No. 165/2014 (“the EU Regulation”) (OJ L 60, 28.2.2014, p1) sets out obligations in relation to construction, installation, use, testing and control of tachographs used in road transport, reflecting the fact that tachographs now use global positioning system technology. It also sets out the conditions and requirements under which the information and data, other than personal data, recorded, processed or stored by tachographs may be used. Northern Ireland’s domestic legislation is updated by these Regulations to ensure it makes appropriate provision for the enforcement of the EU Regulation which is directly applicable in Member States. An Explanatory Memorandum, Regulatory Impact Assessment and Transposition Note have been produced and are available from Road Safety and Vehicle Regulation Division, Department for Infrastructure, Clarence Court, 10-18 Adelaide Street, Town Parks, Belfast BT2 8GB or online alongside this Statutory Rule at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
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