UK Offence Report

Records and information

regulation 10A(4) of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Information to Passengers) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (revoked)

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

4 An operator who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply— a with the requirement to keep records in paragraph (1), or b with a request under paragraph (2) to provide records or information within the period specified for the purposes of paragraph (3), commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an operator
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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 an operator 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.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

4 An operator who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply— a with the requirement to keep records in paragraph (1), or b with a request under paragraph (2) to provide records or information within the period specified for the purposes of paragraph (3), commits an offence.

What would breach regulation 10A(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Information to Passengers) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£10,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
11 February 2022
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations amend The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (the principal regulations) and The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel, Operator Liability and Information to Passengers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (the Operator Liability Regulations). Part 2 amends the principal Regulations. Regulation 4 extends the time for passengers to complete their Passenger Locator Form from 2 days to 3 days. Regulation 5 amends the information to be included in the Passenger Locator Form. Regulation 6 removes the requirement for a fully vaccinated person (an eligible non-red list arrival) to book and undertake tests upon arrival in Northern Ireland. Regulation 7 relaxes the requirement for an unvaccinated person (a non-eligible non-red list arrival) to book and undertake tests upon arrival in Northern Ireland. Rather than a day 2 and day 8 test, only a day 2 test is required. Rather than a legal obligation to self-isolate, the Department may now issue guidance on self-isolation if a test result is positive. Regulation 8 removes the requirement for an unvaccinated person to self-isolate upon arrival. Regulation 9 relaxes the requirements for workforce testing so that a test must only be taken on day 2 now. Regulation 10 updates the list of countries whose vaccinations are recognised and the way in which those vaccinations are treated. Part 3 amends the Operator Liability Regulations. Regulation 12 introduces a new requirement upon operators of transport services to implement and maintain systems to ensure that passengers comply with the various travel rules. Rather than being fined for individual breaches by passengers of these rules, the operator is now only fined if they don’t have proper systems in place. Regulation 13 introduces a fixed penalty notice procedure for offences under the Operator Liability Regulations. This aligns with the procedure with the principal Regulations and allows for a fixed penalty notice to be issued rather than every case having to be dealt with in a court. A person can always elect to have the matter dealt with by a court. This regulation sets out the detailed procedures involved if a fixed penalty notice is challenged etc. Regulation 14 simplifies the requirement for operators to provide information to passengers travelling to Northern Ireland. There are less different types of information to be provided at different times, and there is greater uniformity between the different ways that information may be provided. Regulation 15 requires operators to keep records of how they have complied with their obligation to give information to passengers. Regulation 16 corrects minor typographical and cross-referencing errors in previous Regulations. Regulation 17 is a transitional provision which allows arrivals to be released from isolation early if their country of origin is now regarded as being safe in terms of vaccinations. No impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations.

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”
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