UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986

the instrument as a whole of The Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under sections

5 and 17(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to sections 5 and 17(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
4 February 1986
In force from
1 April 1986
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 removal and disposal of vehicles under sections 3 and 4 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978, and under sections 99 and 101 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Regulation 3 empowers a constable to require the removal of a vehicle which has broken down or been parked in a road obstructively or dangerously, or contrary to any statutory prohibition contained in or having effect under any enactment specified in Schedule 1. Regulation 4 empowers a constable to remove a vehicle which he could require to be removed, or which has been abandoned on a road or on land in the open air. Regulation 5 empowers a local authority to remove a vehicle from a road or land in the open au in a case in which they have no duty to remove it under section 3 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978. Regulation 8 and Schedule 2 prescribe the manner of giving notice to an occupier of land before a vehicle is removed therefrom, and regulation 9 prescribes the manner in and period during which the occupier may object. Regulation 10 prescribes 7 days as the period before which a notice must be affixed in certain cases to a vehicle which is fit only for destruction before an authority may remove it. Regulations 12 to 14 prescribe the procedure for finding the owner of an abandoned vehicle (other than a vehicle which is fit only for destruction) before it is disposed of. Regulation 15 prescribes the information which must be given about the disposal of a vehicle and to whom it must be given. Charges for the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles are prescribed in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Charges) Regulations 1985 (S.I. 1985/1661).

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.

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 0.61.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.61 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