UK Offence Report

1 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene regulation 11, b to fail to comply with or to contravene a…

regulation 67(1) of The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (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 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene regulation 11, b to fail to comply with or to contravene a condition of a permit, c to fail to comply with regulation 45(1), d to fail to comply with the requirements of— i an enforcement notice, ii a suspension notice, or iii a closure notice under regulation 18(1) of the Landfill Regulations, e to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by a notice under regulation 63(2), f to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with regulation 52, g to make a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly to make a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, where the statement is made— i in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under any provision of these Regulations or the Landfill Regulations, or ii for the purpose of obtaining the grant of a permit issued under these Regulations to that person or any other person, or iii for the purpose of obtaining the variation, transfer or surrender of a permit, h intentionally to make a false entry in any record required to be kept under a condition of a permit, i with intent to deceive, to forge or use a document issued or authorised to be issued under a condition of a permit, or required for any purpose under such a condition, or to make or possess a document so closely resembling any such document as to be likely to deceive, j to fail to comply with an order made by a court under regulation 70, k to fail to comply with Part 3 of Schedule 2.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (for the purpose of obtaining, intentionally, recklessly, with intent to).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, for the purpose of obtaining; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

er regulation 18(1) of the Landfill Regulations, e to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by a notice under regulation 63(2), f to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with regulation 52, g to make a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly to

What would breach regulation 67(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 Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£10,000
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
5 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
20 December 2012
In force from
7 January 2013
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 are made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 (c.24), and under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 (c.68) so far as providing for the designation of a competent authority. These Regulations provide an integrated pollution control regime for Scotland for the purposes of implementing Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (Recast) (OJ No L 334, 17.12.2010, p.17) (the “Industrial Emissions Directive”), and of regulating other environmentally polluting activities not covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive. These Regulations revoke and remake, with modifications, the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (S.S.I. 2000/323) (the “2000 Regulations”). The 2000 Regulations when made transposed what is now Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (Codified version) (OJ No L 24, 29.1.2008, p.8) (the “IPPC Directive”) The Industrial Emission Directive is a recast, with modifications, of the seven directives repealed by Article 81 of that Directive. The recast directives include the IPPC Directive, and these Regulations make new provision so far as required for the other recast directives. These Regulations come into force on 7th January 2013, and have effect subject to the savings and transitional arrangements in Schedule 10. A permit under these Regulations will be required for most existing installations or mobile plant from 7th January 2014. An activity already being operated before 7th January 2013, that does not need a permit under the 2000 Regulations, will require a permit needed under these Regulations from 7th July 2015. Part 1 of these Regulations provides for the meaning of terms used in these Regulations, for general duties on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Scottish Ministers, and for electronic communications. Part II of these Regulations designates the SEPA as the competent authority for the purposes of the Industrial Emissions Directive, as required by Article 71 of that Directive. Part III of these Regulations makes it a requirement for any person operating an installation or mobile plant, at which an activity described in Schedules 1 or 2 is carried out, to have a permit granted by SEPA under these Regulations. In Part III, regulations 11 to 19 of, and Schedule 4 to, these Regulations provide for applications for permits, and make general provision as to granting of permits including the conditions that SEPA may include in a permit. In Part III, regulations 20 to 32 make further provision for permits for activities described in Schedule 1 carried out in a Part A installation, a Part B installation, or mobile plant, Regulations 24 and 25 transpose, in particular, Articles 14 and 15 of the Industrial Emissions Directive in respect of the new provision in that Directive for BAT conclusions (see regulations 4 and 12 for relevant definitions). The provision made includes a power to attach conditions affecting land other than the site of an installation. Schedules 3 and 5 to these Regulations make further provision in relation to such activities, and in relation to the best available techniques for emission limit values and other conditions designed to prevent or reduce the environmental impact of activities. Schedule 6 makes further provision for compensation for off-site conditions. In Part III, regulations 32 to 34 make further provision for activities described in Schedule 2 that are carried out in solvents installation (see regulation 12 for the relevant definition). Part IV of these Regulations provides for the Scottish Ministers or SEPA to be able to make standard rules for installations or mobile plant, and for SEPA to be able to attach standard rules conditions in any permit. Part V of these Regulations provides for the review of permit conditions, for changes in operation, and generally for the variation, transfer, surrender or revocation of permits. Schedule 7 makes further provision for the variation of permits. Part VI of these Regulations provides for compliance with permits, and permit conditions. It makes particular provision for the new requirements of Articles 8 (in regulation 52), and 23 (in regulations 53 and 54) of the Industrial Emissions Directive. Parts VII to XI of these Regulations make provision for appeals to the Scottish Ministers and the sheriff, for directions and guidance to SEPA by the Scottish Ministers, for information and publicity including a public register holding information relevant to these Regulations, for offences and the powers of the courts, and for Crown application. Schedules 8 and 9 make further provision for appeals and the public register respectively. Schedules 11 and 12 provide for consequential modifications and revocations. A business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Environmental Quality Division, Scottish Government, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ. A copy has been placed in the library of the Scottish Parliament.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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