UK Offence Report

1 A person commits an offence if the person— a contravenes regulation 7; b is an authorised person and fails…

regulation 69(1) of The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018

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 commits an offence if the person— a contravenes regulation 7; b is an authorised person and fails to comply with regulation 8; c fails to comply with or contravenes a general binding rule; d fails to comply with or contravenes a condition of a registration; e fails to comply with or contravenes a condition of a permit; f fails to comply with the requirements of a regulatory notice; g fails to comply with the requirements of a revocation notice; h fails to comply, without reasonable excuse, with the requirements of a notice issued under regulation 37(1) (power to require provision of information); i fails to comply with an order made by a court under regulation 75; j makes a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, if the statement is made— i in purported compliance with a requirement by an enforcing officer in exercise of that officer’s powers or duties; ii in purported compliance with a requirement imposed by or under these Regulations; or iii for the purpose of obtaining an authorisation, or securing the variation, transfer or surrender of an authorisation; k intentionally makes a false entry in any record required to be kept— i as a condition of an authorisation; or ii in compliance with a requirement imposed by or under these Regulations; l with intent to deceive, forges or uses an authorisation or a document issued or authorised to be issued under a condition of a registration or permit or required for any purpose under a condition of such a registration or permit or makes or possesses a document so closely resembling any such authorisation or document so as to be likely to deceive; or m causes or permits any other person to commit an offence under sub-paragraphs (a) to (k).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

the requirements of a revocation notice; h fails to comply, without reasonable excuse, with the requirements of a notice issued under regulation 37(1) (power to require provision of information); i fails to comply with an order made by a court under regulation 75; j makes a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a mater

What would breach regulation 69(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 Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018.
  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
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
5 years

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 June 2018
In force from
1 September 2018
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 are made under sections 18 and 58 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (2014 asp 3). They provide a framework for the authorisation of environmental activities (which are defined as regulated activities and currently include only radioactive substances activities) in Scotland. They repeal the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (1993 c.12), and provide a new regulatory framework for radioactive substances activities. These Regulations transpose provisions of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation and repealing Directives 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom (OJ L 13, 17.1.2014, p.1) (“the BSSD”). These Regulations come into force on 1st September 2018 and have effect subject to the transitional and savings provisions in schedule 5. A registration or authorisation under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 is deemed to be an authorisation. Activities which are not regulated under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 but which are radioactive substances activities under these Regulations will generally require an authorisation by the date falling after the end of a period of 6 months from the date these Regulations come into force. Part 1 of these Regulations provides for meaning of terms used in these Regulations, and the requirement for a person in control of a regulated activity to have an authorisation. Regulation 9 provides for general aims which SEPA must take into account when carrying out its functions. Part 2 of these Regulations provides for the carrying on of regulated activities in accordance with general binding rules. Schedule 9 sets out the general binding rules which are specified for radioactive substances activities. Part 3 of these Regulations provides for the carrying on of regulated activities in accordance with a notification, including cessation of the activity and surrender of the notification. Part 4 of these Regulations provides for the carrying on of regulated activities in accordance with a registration, including the form of applications, the content of a registration and the grant and variation of a registration. Part 5 of these Regulations provides for the carrying on of regulated activities in accordance with a permit, including the form of an application, the content of a permit and the grant, variation and review of a permit. Schedule 1 makes further provision for the procedures for applying for and granting a registration or permit, and schedule 2 provides for the imposition by SEPA of requirements in permits and notices relating to land not controlled by the authorised person. Part 6 of these Regulations provides for the transfer, revocation and surrender of registrations and permits. Part 7 allows for determination of standard rules. A permit or a registration may be subject to standard rules. Part 8 of these Regulations provides for the Scottish Ministers and SEPA having power to require information for specified purposes and for the requirement for SEPA to make information available to the public via a register. Provision is made for certain categories of information to be excluded from the register. Schedule 3 sets out the information to be included in the register. Part 9 of these Regulations provides for enforcement. SEPA has power under regulation 46 to serve regulatory notices which can include a requirement for a regulated activity to cease. Regulatory notices may require action to be taken on land not in control of the authorised person. Under Part 10 of these Regulations SEPA may serve a cost recovery notice requiring payment of the costs incurred in serving a regulatory notice or a remediation notice. Regulation 51 sets out the costs that may be recovered and the requirements for a notice. Regulation 54 contains provisions for the service of all forms of notice provided for in these Regulations. Part 11 contains provision for the service of notices under these Regulations by SEPA and the Scottish Ministers. Part 12 of these Regulations provides for appeals to the Scottish Ministers, for the effect of an appeal on the matter being appealed, and the determination of appeals by the Scottish Ministers. Schedule 4 makes further provision in relation to appeals. Part 13 of these Regulations provide for SEPA’s functions and duties. SEPA is given power to impose authorisations, to escalate or de-escalate authorisations and to consolidate authorisations. Regulation 59 requires SEPA to carry out its functions in accordance with the technical schedule. Part 14 of these Regulations provides for the publication of guidance by SEPA. Part 15 of these Regulations provides for the creation of criminal offences, as well as the creation of a defence and provision relating to the admissibility of evidence. Regulation 75 gives power to a court to order an offence to be remedied. Part 16 allows the Scottish Ministers to give guidance to SEPA in relation to SEPA’s functions under these Regulations and in connection with the carrying on of a regulated activity by SEPA. Part 17 provides that these Regulations bind the Crown with the exception of premises used by the Crown for defence purposes. Schedules 6 and 7 provide for consequential modifications and repeals and revocations. Schedule 8 is the technical schedule which defines the scope of a radioactive substances activity, and the specific requirements that apply to applications and authorisations for radioactive substances activities. Provision is made in this schedule for certain provisions in the BSSD, including Articles 5 and 12 (paragraph 26), 29(1) and (2) (paragraph 15), 65 to 67 (paragraphs 20 to 22), 85, 86 and 88 to 91 (paragraphs 23 to 25), 87 (paragraph 18), 90 (paragraph 32), 92 (paragraph 34), 94 (paragraphs 35 and 36) and 104 (paragraph 31). A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Environmental Quality Division, Directorate for Environment & Forestry, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. An updated transposition note is submitted with the Policy Note which is available alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.96 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