UK Offence Report

If any undertakers, when served with a notice under this Regulation requiring them to take any such measures…

regulation 1(4) of The Civil Defence (Transport) Regulations 1954

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 If any undertakers, when served with

a notice under this Regulation requiring them to take any such measures as are referred to in paragraph (1) (b) or (c), or, as the case may be, paragraph (2) (b) of this Regulation, fail to take such measures within the time specified in the notice, they shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and, if the failure in respect of which they are convicted continues after the conviction, to

a fine not exceeding fifty pounds for each day on which the failure so continues: Provided that the court by which any undertakers are convicted of any offence under the said paragraphs may fix

a reasonable period from the date of the conviction for compliance by the undertakers with the requirements of the notice, and, where

a court has fixed such

a period, the said daily penalty shall not be recoverable in respect of any day before the expiration thereof.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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 1(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 Civil Defence (Transport) Regulations 1954, 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
£100
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

fine stated in words ("one hundred pounds") and never uprated in this instrument.

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
9 March 1954
In force from
24 March 1954
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 make provision for the taking of measures for civil defence purposes for securing the continued operation of railway, canal, inland navigation, dock and harbour undertakings. The Regulations:— Impose a duty on persons carrying on such undertakings— to make reports to the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation as to the measures they have taken or are taking or proposing to take to secure the due functioning of their undertaking in the event of hostile attack; to take such measures as the Minister may require for securing the due functioning of the undertaking and for ensuring the provision or maintenance of essential services in the event of hostile attack. Provide for grants towards expenses incurred by such persons in taking measures for the above purposes.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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