UK Offence Report

Offences by bodies corporate etc.

regulation 17(1) of The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2015

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 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 17(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 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£10,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
27 October 2015
In force from
30 November 2015
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 make provision for the purposes of implementation of: Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p.320) (“the Common Provisions Regulation”); and Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 149, 20.5.2014, p.1) (the “EMFF Regulation”). Those EU instruments (as supplemented by relevant implementing and delegated regulations) make provision for EU-funded support in Member States in respect of certain categories of investments, projects and actions in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and in the industry sector processing and marketing products from the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Collectively, the applicable EU instruments are defined in regulation 2(1) of these Regulations as “the EU Regulations”. These Regulations provide for and regulate the payment of grants by the Scottish Ministers towards expenditure on operations which the Scottish Ministers have approved in accordance with these Regulations and the EU Regulations. Regulation 3 makes provision for the Scottish Ministers to pay a grant to a person who has made an application. Regulation 4 makes provision about the form and manner of applications for a grant and the procedural requirements for making an application. Regulation 5 makes provision in relation to the Scottish Ministers’ determining an application for a grant; adding or varying conditions to which a grant is subject; notifying decisions; providing reasons for decisions; and considering any representations made by the person applying for, or benefitting from, a grant. Regulation 6 provides that a grant is dependent on the provision of satisfactory evidence of the expenditure incurred. Regulation 7 makes provision concerning the method of payment of a grant. Regulation 8 provides that the Scottish Ministers may require undertakings to be given by a person whose application is approved. Regulation 9 makes provision for persons whose applications for a grant have been approved to supply to the Scottish Ministers such information as the Scottish Ministers may from time to time reasonably require. Regulation 10 makes provision requiring persons whose application has been approved to keep certain records for a specified period of time. Regulations 11 and 12 make provision concerning enforcement powers. Regulation 12 confers powers of entry and inspection on authorised officers. Regulation 11 requires a person whose application for a grant has been approved, or an employee, servant or agent of such a person, to provide reasonable assistance to authorised officers as required when the latter are exercising those powers. Regulation 13 makes provision excluding authorised officers from incurring any personal liability when acting in good faith. Regulation 14 makes provision for the reduction, withholding or recovery, in certain circumstances, of a grant. Regulation 15 makes provision for the payment of interest on sums recovered. Regulation 16 makes provision for offences and penalties for obstructing an authorised officer, failing to provide assistance and supplying false or misleading information. Regulation 17 provides for the application of those offences in relation to bodies corporate, Scottish partnerships and unincorporated associations. Regulation 18 makes provision for the revocation of three instruments relating to the European Fisheries Fund (the programme which preceded the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund), subject to savings provisions. No Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations as they have no new impact on 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 “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