UK Offence Report

Offence: failure to comply with an enforcement requirement

regulation 5(1) of The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024

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 who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed in the exercise of an enforcement’s officers’ powers under regulation 9(1)(c)(iii), (i) or (k) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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

1 A person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed in the exercise of an enforcement’s officers’ powers under regulation 9(1)(c)(iii), (i) or (k) commits an offence.

What would breach regulation 5(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed in the exercise of an enforcement’s officers’ powers under regulation 9(1)(c)(iii), (i) or (k).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.

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
1 October 2024
In force from
1 April 2025
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 prohibit the supply, whether by sale or otherwise, in the course of business of single-use vapes and come into force on 1 April 2025. Regulation 4 provides that it is an offence for a person, in the course of business, to supply, offer to supply, or have in their possession for supply, single-use vapes. A person found guilty of an offence under regulation 4 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale and, on conviction on indictment, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine, or both. Regulation 5 provides that it is an offence for a person to fail without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement imposed in the exercise of an enforcement officer’s powers under regulation 9(1)(c)(iii), (i) or (k). A person found guilty of an offence under regulation 5 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. Regulation 6 makes provision for offences by bodies corporate, Scottish partnerships and unincorporated associations. Regulation 7 provides a due diligence defence. Regulation 8 provides that a local authority may authorise any person who appears suitable to exercise any of the powers specified in regulation 9. Regulation 9 provides for enforcement officers to have powers of entry and associated powers to carry out the necessary investigations in order to determine whether an offence has been or is being committed. Regulation 10 makes provision for enforcement officers to obtain warrants in certain circumstances. A Business Regulatory Impact assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Government, Product Stewardship Division, Area 3H South, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ.

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