UK Offence Report

Installation and use of recording equipment: AETR requirements

regulation 3A(8) of The Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019

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 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 for the contravention of 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.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 regulation 3A(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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019, 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
8 February 2019
In force from
11 March 2019
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 make provision under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 to fully implement the EU Drivers’ Hours Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006) and the EU Tachographs Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 165/2014). Article 2(3) of the EU Drivers’ Hours Regulation applies the European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport of 1st July 1970 (known as the “AETR”) in EU member states, requiring the implementing of the AETR in these states. The Regulations include provision implementing the AETR. Part 1 of the Regulations contains introductory provisions. Part 2 contains amendments to Article 81 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. Article 81 provides for offences against applicable Community rules in relation to periods of driving, distance driven, or periods of off duty. The amendments ensure that contravention of AETR rules also constitutes an offence. Part 3 of the Regulations contains amendments to secondary legislation. These amend and update existing statutory provision to ensure full implementation of EU obligations, including application of AETR rules. In particular, the amendments implement penalties relating to testing requirements for security vulnerabilities, and penalties relating to the prohibition of the supply of recording equipment without a type approval certificate. They also provide for offences and penalties for failure to comply with AETR requirements - in particular, failure to properly install and use recording equipment; supplying recording equipment without a valid type approval certificate; and failing to notify authorities of security vulnerabilities. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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