UK Offence Report

False representation of status for purpose of inspecting documents

rule 245(1) of The Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Rules 2026

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 It is an offence for

a person who does not have

a right under these Rules to inspect

a relevant document falsely to claim to be

a creditor, customer, member of the institution or contributory of the institution with the intention of gaining sight of the relevant document.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 rule 245(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 Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Rules 2026.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
22 January 2026
In force from
2 March 2026
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 payment institution special administration process or electronic money institution special administration process (as the case may be) in Northern Ireland under the Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021 (“the Regulations”) as amended by the Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The main features of the special administration process in each case are that: a an administrator is appointed, and the institution enters special administration, by court order; b special administration objectives and procedures apply; c specific provision is made about how those procedures apply to small institutions; d the administrator is to pursue the special administration objectives in accordance with the statement of proposals. In other respects the procedure is the same as for administration under Schedule B1 to the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order, subject to modifications and the inclusion of certain liquidation provisions of that Order. The Rules make provision in relation to the procedure as follows: Part 2 sets out the procedure for applying for a special administration order. Part 3 sets out the process of the special administration. Part 4 provides for the expenses of the special administration. Part 5 sets out the rules concerning relevant funds claims. Part 6 provides for the pursuit of Objective 1. Part 7 provides for distributions to creditors. Part 8 sets out rules concerning the administrator. Part 9 provides for the end of the special administration. Part 10 sets out court procedure and practice. Part 11 provides for the application of Article 180 of the Insolvency (N.I.) Order 1989 (prohibited names). Part 12 contains provisions of general effect. Part 13 provides for general interpretation and application. The Rules apply to institutions incorporated as companies as well as to institutions that are: a limited liability partnerships by virtue of paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 of the Regulations which applies the Rules with such modifications as the context requires for giving effect to the Regulations; or b partnerships by virtue of paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations which applies Article 18 of and Schedule 10 to the Insolvent Partnerships Order (N.I.) 1995 (S.R. 1995/225).

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