UK Offence Report

Offences by bodies corporate

regulation 24(1) of The Leader Grants (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (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 A person is guilty of an offence if conditions A and B are met.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 24(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 Leader Grants (Scotland) Regulations 2008.

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
28 February 2008
In force from
22 March 2008
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 make provision for the purposes of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Commission Regulations (EC) Nos. 1974/2006 and 1975/2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation No. 1698/2005. The Instrument provides for LEADER funding being made available by the Scottish Ministers from the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007 13 to local action groups. Regulation 3 provides that local action groups may themselves apply to the Scottish Ministers for grants for certain designated matters including advance funding of up to 7%, subject to certain funding restrictions (regulation 5). Regulation 6 requires local action groups to confirm their participation in the UK national rural network for rural development programmes and when this has been established any sub network applicable to the operation of LEADER in Scotland. Regulation 7 specifies the payment of LEADER grant subject to specific funding restrictions (regulation 12), a number of general grant requirements (regulation 14) and in accordance with the eligibility criteria for the particular project (regulation 8) and the eligibility of the applicant body (regulation 9). Regulations 10 and 11 specify the provisions for determination and payment of LEADER grant. Regulation 13 confirms the exception to LEADER grant funding restrictions to permit projects to achieve simultaneous funding from LEADER grant and from non European funded programmes but only where prior stated approval has been received of in circumstances where LEADER funding is being used to support a distinct phase of a larger project where other phases are being funded from other sources. Regulation 15 confers powers of entry and inspection for authorised persons to enforce the Regulations and regulation 16 specifies the level of assistance which those persons are to be given. Regulation 17 defines both the Scottish Ministers and local action groups as having the role of responsible bodies for the purposes of dealing with breaches of obligations under either local action group grant or LEADER grant and further provides for the Scottish Ministers to act directly in relation to LEADER grants where a local action group fails to act or can no longer act. Regulation 18 makes provision for the revocation and variation of approval and the withholding or recovery of grants where breaches of obligations have occurred. Regulation 19 provides for set-off of sums due to a responsible body. Regulation 20 provides for sums due to a responsible body to be recoverable as a debt. Regulation 21 makes provision for the payment of interest on grants recovered under regulation 20. Regulation 22 gives the Scottish Ministers power to issue guidance on applying for grant, the costs which may be supported by grant under the Regulations, and generally how the Scottish Ministers intend to perform their functions under the Regulations. Regulations 23 and 24 create offences of knowingly or recklessly making a false statement to obtain grants or obstructing authorised persons acting under the Regulations. Regulation 25 provides for the retention of information and records by local action groups and regulation 26 provides for retention of information and records by beneficiaries in receipt of LEADER grant. Regulation 27 provides a right of appeal under the Agricultural Subsidies (Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2004. No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared for this instrument as it has no impact on the cost of business.

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