UK Offence Report

Information about events affecting the RCI

regulation 12(4) of The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021

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

4 A person who is subject to

a duty under this regulation commits an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with this regulation.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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 person 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.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

uty under this regulation commits an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with this regulation.

What would breach regulation 12(4)?

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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
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
17 February 2021
In force from
1 April 2022
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 section 39 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 and create a Register of Persons holding a controlled interest in land, which register is referred to in these Regulations as “the RCI”. Part 1 of the Regulations contains general provision, including interpretation of the terms used in the Regulations. Part 2 creates the RCI, and makes provision about the making of entries in the RCI, amendment of entries in the RCI and the protection of, and access to the RCI. Part 3 sets out duties to provide information. There is a duty on the person who owns or tenants land (the recorded person) to provide information about the persons who exercise significant influence or control over them (the associate). The recorded person must provide information about any changes in the information on the RCI and must notify any associates of the intention to include information about them on the register. Associates are under a duty to notify the recorded person of their association. They are also under a duty to provide information to the recorded person on request. Under regulation 16, it is possible for an associate to make a security declaration, which is a declaration that the inclusion of their details on the RCI would put the associate or an individual connected to the associate at risk of violence, abuse, threat of violence or abuse, or intimidation. Regulation 18 makes provision for the appeal against a decision of the Keeper in respect of a security declaration. Part 4 makes various miscellaneous provisions. Schedule 1 sets out the definitions of persons who have significant influence and control over another. Part 1 of Schedule 1 relates to contractual or other arrangements with an individual. Part 2 of Schedule 1 relates to partnerships. Part 3 of Schedule relates to trusts. Part 4 of Schedule 1 relates to unincorporated bodies. Part 5 of Schedule 1 relates to overseas entities. Schedule 2 sets out the lists of persons who are subject to other transparency regimes. Persons listed in schedule 2 are not required to provide information under regulation 10 of these Regulations. Schedule 3 sets out the list of evidence that may be provided in order to support a security declaration made under regulation 16(1). The following assessments were prepared in relation to these Regulations— A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment A Data Privacy Impact Assessment An Equalities Impact Assessment A full Strategic Environmental Assessment or Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment were not considered to be necessary in relation to these Regulations.

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