UK Offence Report

Power to require further particulars and attendance of witnesses and to order recovery of documents

article 20(3) of The Lands Tribunal for Scotland Rules 2003

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

3 Any notice given under paragraph (1)(c) or (d) or (2) shall contain

a reference to the provisions of section 3(12)(c) of the Act of 1949, (by which any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any such notice shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

3 months or to both such fine and imprisonment).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to comply with a notice or direction
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 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.

“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

tion 3(12)(c) of the Act of 1949, (by which any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any such notice shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both such fine and imprisonment).

What would breach article 20(3)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person fails to comply with any such notice.
  2. Being served with a notice under the Lands Tribunal for Scotland Rules 2003 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  3. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  4. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
22 September 2003
In force from
1 November 2003
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 replace Part I, II, III, VI, VB and VC of the Lands Tribunal for Scotland Rules 1971. Parts IV, V and VA of the 1971 Rules remain in force together with Part VI of those Rules insofar as it affects the Parts remaining in force. The Parts which remain in force refer to matters which are reserved in terms of the Scotland Act 1998. Part I of these Rules deals with applications to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland (“the Tribunal”) under the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003. Schedule 1 contains a list of application forms under these two Acts and these forms, among others, are set out in Schedule 2. The applications available under Part I are for reallotment of a feudal burden, for the discharge, variation or renewal of a title condition, the preservation of a community burden or the preservation of a development management scheme. The forms may also be used to obtain certificates from the Tribunal confirming whether an application has been made, to refer disputes over notices served under these two Acts and to refer disputes over the assessment of value of a former school site. Part II deals with the determination by the Tribunal of questions of disputed compensation including questions arising on the compulsory acquisition of land by a public authority. Part III makes provision for the Tribunal to deal with “blight notices” under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Part IV makes provision for procedure for determination by the Tribunal of appeals referred to it by valuation appeal committees in accordance with section 1(3A) of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949. Rule 28(6) provides that the Tribunal shall not have power to make orders for expenses between parties in such cases. Part V contains general procedural provisions. Rule 30 saves the general provisions in Part VI of the 1971 Rules which will continue to apply in respect of Parts IV, V and VA of those Rules which have not been replaced by these Rules. Schedule 1 contains a list of applications and application forms under the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003. Schedule 2 contains all of the application forms referred to in the Rules. Schedule 3 contains a list of Rules which are being revoked.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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