UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 16(1) of The European Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (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 financial assistance for themselves or any other person–

a in furnishing any information in purported compliance with

a requirement imposed by or under regulation

4 or 13(6)(a), knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b in purported compliance with

a requirement imposed under regulation 4(2), or 13(6)(a) or (c), knowingly or recklessly produces

a document which is false or misleading in

a 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 16(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 European Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2007.
  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
5 June 2007
In force from
28 June 2007
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, which extend to Scotland only, supplement Council Regulation 1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (“the Council Regulation”) and Commission Regulation 498/2007 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the Council Regulation (“the Commission Regulation”). In exercise of powers introduced by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, references to the Council and Commission Regulations are to these instruments as they may be amended from time to time. The Council Regulation provides for assistance (“Community aid”) to be paid from the European Fisheries Fund established by the European Community in respect of certain categories of investments, projects and actions (“relevant operations”) in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and in the industry sector processing and marketing its products. These Regulations provide for and regulate the payment of Community aid and grants in addition to that aid by the Scottish Ministers towards expenditure on operations which the Scottish Ministers have approved in accordance with these Regulations, the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation. The Regulations (regulations 3, 4 and 5) lay down a procedure for applications for the approval of relevant operations and expenditure to be made and approved for the purpose of the payment of Community aid and, if the Scottish Ministers so determine, grant in addition to that aid. Such aid and grant together is referred to as “financial assistance”. In determining whether to pay grant in addition to Community aid and, if they determine to pay such grant, the amount of the grant, the Scottish Ministers are required to have regard to the requirements of the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation (regulation 3). Among other things the Council Regulation requires a certain level of financial participation by Member States to enable relevant operations to qualify for Community aid, the requisite levels of participation being set out in Annex II to the Council Regulation. Payment of financial assistance is dependent on the provision of satisfactory evidence of the expenditure incurred and of the proper execution of the relevant operation (regulation 6). Provision is made concerning the method of payment of financial assistance (regulation 7). The Scottish Ministers may require undertakings to be given by a person whose application is approved (regulation 8). Provision is made (regulation 9) for persons whose applications for financial assistance have been approved to supply to the Scottish Ministers such information as the Scottish Ministers may from time to time reasonably require and (under regulation 10) for them to retain certain records for a period of six years. That period may be extended by the Scottish Ministers. Provision is made in relation to the keeping of accounts and records by the Sea Fish Industry Authority (the “Authority”) where it has made or received payments in the exercise of any functions under these Regulations which the Authority has been required by the Scottish Ministers under section 2(5) of the Fisheries Act 1981 to exercise for the Scottish Ministers (regulation 11). Applicants are required, on request, to give assistance to authorised officers, who are given power of entry and inspection for specified purposes (regulations 12 and 13). Provision is made for the reduction, withholding and recovery, in certain circumstances, of financial assistance (regulation 14) and for the payment of interest on amounts recovered (regulation 15). The Regulations create offences and provide penalties in respect of false statements made to obtain financial assistance, failure to keep records or provide information reasonably requested by the Scottish Ministers, failure to comply with requests made by authorised officers in exercise of their powers of entry and inspection and the obstruction of such officers in the exercise of those powers (regulation 16). They also make provision in relation to offences committed by bodies corporate and Scottish partnerships (regulation 17). No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of 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 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