UK Offence Report

1 Any person who, for the purpose of procuring a particular decision on an application to which these…

regulation 38(1) of The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017

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 purpose of procuring

a particular decision on an application to which these Regulations apply—

a knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular;

b with intent to deceive, uses any document which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

c with intent to deceive, withholds any material information, commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, with intent to).

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, with intent to, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 38(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 Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.
  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)
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
30 March 2017
In force from
16 May 2017
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 revoke and replace the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (“the 2000 Regulations”). These Regulations apply in relation to Scotland only. These Regulations implement Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, p.1), as amended by Council Directive 2014/52/EU (OJ L 124, 25.04.2014, p.1), in relation to consents (“Electricity Act consents”) required under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 for projects in Scotland for the construction of generating stations and overhead electric lines. The Regulations impose procedural requirements in relation to the consideration of applications for such Electricity Act consents by the Scottish Ministers. All development in schedule 1 requires an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Development in schedule 2 requires an EIA if it is likely to have significant effects on the environment. Development which requires an EIA is referred to in the Regulations as “EIA development”. Regulation 3 prohibits the grant of Electricity Act consent for EIA development unless an environmental impact assessment has been carried out and the Scottish Ministers have first taken account of the environmental information (defined in regulation 2(1)) which is before them. It also restricts the power to make related directions under section 57 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 deeming planning to be granted. Regulation 24 makes equivalent provision in relation to the determination of an application for multi-stage consent. Regulation 4 sets out what the environmental assessment process comprises and regulation 5 sets out the content of a EIA report. Part 2 sets out procedures for determining whether development is EIA development. Regulation 6 sets out which events will establish that development is EIA development. Regulation 8 enables a request to be made to the Scottish Ministers for a “screening opinion”. Regulation 7 makes general provision in relation to such an opinion, including that any opinion must be made by reference to the criteria in schedule 3. Part 3 sets out procedures to be followed where the Scottish Ministers are considering an application for consent for EIA development without an EIA report. Regulations 12 enables a developer to seek an opinion from the Scottish Ministers (“a scoping opinion”) on the information to be included in an EIA report. The types of information which may be required are set out in schedule 4. The Scottish Ministers must consult bodies with environmental responsibilities before adopting a scoping opinion. Regulation 13 requires consultation bodies, if requested, to assist the preparation of an EIA report by making information available to the developer. Regulation 14 requires publication of notice of the lodging of an EIA report to be given. Regulation 15 requires the EIA report and other relevant information to be made available for inspection on the planning register. Regulation 16 provides for consultation where an EIA report is received by the Scottish Ministers. Regulations 17 and 18 are concerned with the provision of copies of an EIA report. Regulation 19 contains procedures for requiring the provision by the developer of supplementary information over and above that contained in the EIA report. The developer may also submit information relating to the EIA report voluntarily. Such information is together referred to as “additional information” (regulation 2(1)). Regulation 20 provides that notice of the receipt and availability of additional information provided by the developer after the initial gathering of information for an EIA report has taken place will require to be publicised. Regulation 21 sets out what information is to be contained in the decision notice following determination of an application for consent. Regulation 22 requires consideration to be given to the inclusion of monitoring measures. Regulation 23 requires the Scottish Ministers to notify the developer, consultation bodies and the public of their decision. Part 8 makes provision relating to applications for multi-stage consent which essentially mirror the provisions in the Regulations relating to applications for the grant of Electricity Act consent. Regulation 25 requires the Scottish Ministers to seek supplementary information if they identify that the environmental assessment has yet to consider certain significant environmental impacts of the development. Regulation 26 requires the Scottish Ministers to undertake screening in certain circumstances where considering an application for multi-stage consent. Regulation 27 modifies the application of the Regulations as they apply to applications for multi-stage consent. Part 9 makes provision for variation applications. Regulations 29 and 30 provide for consultation between EEA States where development is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another EEA State. Regulations 31 to 33 make provision for the use of electronic communication. Regulation 34 provides for the service of notices under the Regulations. Regulation 35 makes provision to facilitate the access to legal challenge procedures for non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection. Regulation 36 provides for co-ordination of assessments and regulation 37 for the avoidance of conflicts of interest. Regulations 38 makes it an offence knowingly or recklessly to provide a false or misleading statement in order to procure a decision or, with intent to deceive, to use document which is false or misleading or to withhold material information. Regulation 39 provides for how this applies in the context of offences committed by bodies corporate etc. Part 12 makes transitional provisions and revokes the 2000 Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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