UK Offence Report

False claim of status as creditor, etc

article 149(1) of The Postal Administration Rules (Northern Ireland) 2021

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

1 Where the Rules provide for creditors or members of

a company

a right to inspect any documents, whether on the court’s file or in the hands of

a postal administrator or other person, it is an offence for

a person, with the intention of obtaining

a sight of documents which the person has not under the Rules any right to inspect, falsely to claim

a status which would entitle the person to inspect them.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 company
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: with the intention of.

What would breach article 149(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Postal Administration Rules (Northern Ireland) 2021.

Penalty

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

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
9 September 2021
In force from
11 October 2021
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 Rules) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Rules set out the procedure for the postal administration process under Part 4 of the Postal Services Act 2011(c.5) (“the Act”). Postal administration is a special insolvency regime specifically created for companies that are designated under section 35 of the Act as universal service providers. The main features of postal administration are: a the company enters the procedure by court order on application by the Secretary of State or with the consent of the Secretary of State, by OFCOM; b the order appoints a postal administrator; c the objective of a postal administration is to secure that a universal postal service is provided in accordance with the standards set out in the universal postal service order; and d in other respects the process is the same as for normal administration under the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405), subject to specified modifications. Part 2 of these Rules sets out the procedure for applying for a postal administration order. Part 3 of these Rules sets out the initial steps to be taken in postal administration proceedings. Part 4 of these Rules governs the conduct of creditors and company meetings. Part 5 of these Rules contains provision relating to an application to court for authority to dispose of property subject to a security. Part 6 of these Rules provides for the priority of expenses of the postal administration. Part 7 of these Rules contain provision relating to distribution to creditors, including as to proving debts and quantifying claims. Part 8 of these Rules contains details of how the remuneration of a postal administrator will be fixed by the court. Part 9 of these Rules set out the arrangements for ending a postal administration. Part 10 of these Rules set out the requirements and procedures for replacing a postal administrator. Part 11 of these Rules contains general provisions detailing the court procedure and practice for postal administration. Part 12 of these Rules contain provisions for the use of proxies at creditors’ or members’ meetings. Part 13 of these Rules set out the provisions for examination of persons where an application to court has been made by the postal administrator under Article 200 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 Part 14 of these Rules contain miscellaneous and general provisions. Part 15 of these Rules contain provisions of general effect. Part 16 of these Rules contains further interpretation and application provisions. Schedule 1 to these Rules contain the forms that are to be used in postal administration proceedings. Schedule 2 to these Rules contains specific details of the punishment of offences under these Rules. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. An Impact Assessment for the Act is available on the Parliament website.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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