UK Offence Report

False representations, etc

rule 5.30(1) of The Insolvency Rules 1986

The provision has been revoked, but a saving provision keeps it prosecutable for conduct before a stated date. A person can still be charged with something it is no longer an offence to do.

What the provision says

1 The debtor commits an offence if he makes any false representation or commits any other fraud for the purpose of obtaining the approval of his creditors to

a proposal for

a voluntary arrangement under Part VIII of the Act.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: for the purpose of obtaining.

What would breach rule 5.30(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 makes any false representation or commits any other fraud for the purpose of obtaining the approval of his creditors to a proposal for a voluntary arrangement under Part VIII of the Act.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Insolvency Rules 1986.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
Revoked, but still prosecutable
Revoked by
The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2013 (revoked)
Revoked on
1 October 2013
Made
10 November 1986
In force from
29 December 1986
Extent
E+W

How this was established: revoked, but a saving provision keeps the offence prosecutable for conduct before the stated date.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Rules set out the detailed procedure for the conduct of all company and individual insolvency proceedings in England and Wales under the Insolvency Act 1986 and otherwise give effect to that Act. The insolvency proceedings concerned are— company voluntary arrangements (Part 1 of the Rules), administration (Part 2), administrative receivership (Part 3), companies winding up (Part 4), individual voluntary arrangements (Part 5), and bankruptcy (Part 6). Parts 7 to 13 of the Rules apply to both company and individual insolvency proceedings and are concerned with the following matters— court procedure and practice (Part 7), proxies and company representation (Part 8), examination of persons concerned in company and individual insolvency (Part 9). official receivers (Part 10), declaration and payment of dividend (winding up and bankruptcy) (Part 11), miscellaneous and general (Part 12), and interpretation and application (Part 13). The Arrangement of Rules at the beginning of the statutory instrument lists the number and contents of all the Rules and Schedules. The Rules come into force on 29th December 1986 and generally apply to all insolvency proceedings commenced on or after that date. The Rules also apply to such proceedings commenced before that date to which provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 are applied by Schedule 11 of the Act to the extent necessary to give effect to those provisions. In addition, Rules 6.36, 7.11 and 7.34 expressly provide for their application to insolvency proceedings, whenever commenced.

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