UK Offence Report

1 Any person who, for the purposes of obtaining for the benefit of that or any other person any grant under…

regulation 11(1) of The Highland and Islands Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants Etc. (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (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

1 Any person who, for the purposes of obtaining for the benefit of that or any other person any grant under these Regulations, knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false in any material particular, shall be guilty of an offence and 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 11(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Highland and Islands Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants Etc. (Scotland) Regulations 2001.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

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 Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), 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
15 February 2001
In force from
Not determined
Extent
S

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 introduce measures to supplement– a Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17th May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations; b Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21st June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds; and c Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 of 23rd July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). The above Community legislation provides for payment of assistance from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund for measures which promote rural development falling within the scope of Council Regulation 1257/1999. Measures relating to Objective 1 areas (which include the Highlands and Islands for transitional support under Objective 1) are subject to the provisions of Council Regulation 1260/1999. These Regulations set up the Highlands and Islands Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants scheme and enable the payment of grants under the Single Programming Document for the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme which, in accordance with Council Regulation 1260/1999, was approved by the European Commission on 8th August 2000. Grants under the Regulations can be provided for investments or projects fulfilling the requirements and the purposes of Articles 25 to 28 of Council Regulation 1257/1999 and Articles 21 to 23 of Commission Regulation 1750/1999 or, where the investment or project relates to the marketing of quality agricultural products, falls within any of the purposes set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations (regulation 3). The Regulations provide for the procedure for applications for grants. Applications must be submitted to the Scottish Ministers after applications have been invited (regulation 4). The Regulations also– a make provision for the determination of applications by the Scottish Ministers (regulation 5); b provide for how grants may be claimed and for the Scottish Ministers to determine the manner and timing of payment of the approved grants (regulation 6); c provide for retention of information and records (regulation 7); d confer powers of entry and inspection for authorised persons to enforce the Regulations (regulation 8); e make provision for the revocation and variation of approval and the withholding or recovery of grants (regulation 9); f make provision for payment of interest on grants recovered under regulation 9 (regulation 10); and g create offences of knowingly or recklessly making a false statement to obtain grants or of obstructing authorised persons acting under the Regulations and make associated provision (regulations 11 and 12). These Regulations also revoke, subject to a saving provision, the Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grant Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/362) and make a minor revocation consequential thereon. A copy of the Commission Decision approving the Single Programming Document, together with a copy of the Single Programming Document, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies of them may be inspected at the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, Agriculture, Food and EU Co-ordination Branch, Room 257, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY. The Regulations also make minor amendments to the Agricultural Business Development Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2000 to clarify provisions in those Regulations concerning applications for and determinations of applications for funding thereunder.

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 is “guilty of 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