UK Offence Report

Proof of lack of knowledge

regulation 18(c) of The Control of Explosives Precursors etc. (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 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

c in paragraph (4) for the definition of “an Article 4(1) offence” substitute— “an Article

5 offence” means an offence under Article

31 of the 1978 Order for

a contravention of— regulation 3A(1)(a) or 3C(1)(a) (prohibitions in relation to use etc of restricted hydrochloric acid, restricted phosphoric acid and hexamine imposed by application of Article 5(1) of the Precursors Regulation with modifications), or Article 5(1) or (2) of the Precursors Regulation (which is an offence by virtue of regulation 18). .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 18(c)?

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 Control of Explosives Precursors etc. (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026, 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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to Article 31 of the 1978 Order.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
12 May 2026
In force from
8 June 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations amend the Control of Explosives Precursors etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (“the 2014 Regulations”)— to strengthen the control of the explosives precursors phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, hexamine and sulfur in Northern Ireland, and to implement Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors (“the Precursors Regulation”) in Northern Ireland. Regulations 4 to 8, 13, 14 and 20 (read with definitions inserted by regulation 3 and the definition of “tier 2 substance” substituted by regulation 7(b)) make amendments which strengthen the control of the explosives precursors phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, hexamine and sulfur in Northern Ireland. Regulations 4 to 6 apply, with modifications, specific provisions of the Precursors Regulation to the substances in question at certain concentrations. As regards restricted hydrochloric acid, restricted phosphoric acid and hexamine, regulations 7 and 8 make provision about licensing and regulation 13 provides for the verification of licences. Related amendments are made by regulations 17 and 18 to provisions of the 2014 Regulations concerning offences. Regulation 11 makes changes so that a person who supplies tier 1 or tier 2 substances must instruct personnel about that person’s obligations under various provisions of the 2014 Regulations, for example regulation 8 (general obligations on licence holders). “Tier 1 substance” is defined in regulation 3(2) of the 2014 Regulations. “Tier 2 substance” is defined in regulation 4(2) of the 2014 Regulations, as substituted by regulation 7(b) of these Regulations. These Regulations also contain, in regulations 3 to 10 and 12 to 19, amendments to the 2014 Regulations made to implement the Precursors Regulation in Northern Ireland. The Precursors Regulation applied in Northern Ireland from 1st February 2021. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. A de minimis impact assessment is available from the Northern Ireland Office at 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ and published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

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 0.62.

Basis
the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.62 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