UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 7(3) of The Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (Scotland) Regulations 2014

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 Where— a an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate or a Scottish partnership or other unincorporated association; and b it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of, or was attributable to any neglect on the part of— i a relevant individual; or ii an individual purporting to act in the capacity of a relevant individual, the individual as well as the body corporate, Scottish partnership or unincorporated association commits an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 body corporate
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 body corporate 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 7(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (Scotland) Regulations 2014.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
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
25 September 2014
In force from
13 November 2014
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 extend to Scotland only. They implement in relation to Scotland those matters concerning heavy fuel oil and gas oil (except marine fuels) contained in Council Directive 1999/32/EC relating to a reduction in the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and amending Directive 93/12/EEC (OJ L 121, 11.5.1999, p.13) “Directive 1999/32/EC”. Directive 1999/32/EC was originally transposed in relation to Scotland by the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (S.S.I. 2000/16). Those Regulations were revoked by the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (Scotland) Regulations 2007 “the 2007 Regulations” (S.S.I. 2007/27). Directive 2012/33/EU as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels (OJ L 327, 27.11.2012, p.1-13) amended Directive 1999/32/EC. These Regulations transpose, as regards land based liquid fuels, the requirements of that Directive. They revoke the 2007 Regulations, save for some transitional provision (regulation 8). Regulation 2 (1) contains new definitions of “gas oil” and “heavy fuel oil”. Regulation 3 stipulates that these Regulations do not apply to heavy fuel oil or gas oil intended for— a the purposes of research and testing; b processing prior to final combustion; or c processing in the refining industry. Regulation 4 prohibits the use of any heavy fuel oil with a sulphur content exceeding 1 per cent by mass, subject to some exceptions. Regulation 5 prohibits the use of gas oil with a sulphur content exceeding 0.1 per cent by mass. Regulation 6 requires the Scottish Ministers to take all necessary measures to ensure that the periodic sampling of heavy fuel oil and gas oil is carried out to check that the use of those fuels complies with, respectively regulations 4(1) and 5. That sampling is to be carried out with sufficient frequency and quantity and must be analysed without undue delay. Regulation 7 deals with offences and penalties where these Regulations are contravened. Regulation 8 revokes the 2007 Regulations and makes some transitional provisions in relation to an operator of a combustion plant who been granted a permit under the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (Scotland) Regulations 2000, has submitted an application for a permit under the 2007 Regulations or has been granted a permit under the 2007 Regulations. The Schedule deals with applications by an operator of a combustion plant who wishes to operate that plant under an exception provided for in regulation 4(2) or (3) and that plant meets certain requirements.

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 “commits 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