UK Offence Report

Unauthorised application of EEC signs and marks, etc.

paragraph 17(3) of SCHEDULE of The Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations 1988

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

3 Any person who supplies gas through any instrument of

a category to which the Directive on gas volume meters applies which to his knowledge —

a bears any EEC sign or mark which is

a forgery or counterfeit, or which has been transferred from another instrument, or which has been altered or defaced otherwise than pursuant to

a duty imposed on

a meter examiner or as permitted by virtue of paragraph (2) above; or

b does not comply with the requirements of the Directive on gas volume meters by reason of any alteration made in it after any EEC sign or mark was applied to it in accordance with these Regulations; shall be guilty of 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
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 paragraph 17(3) of SCHEDULE?

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. Selling the goods under the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations 1988 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  2. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  3. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

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
Status not determined
Made
22 February 1988
In force from
15 March 1988
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.

The Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations 1983 applied the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1980 (S.I. 1980/1058) subject to modifications to certain gas volume meters to which Council Directive No. 71/318/EEC, as amended, applied, and implemented the obligations of the United Kingdom under that Directive and under Council Directive No. 71/316/EEC, as amended. The Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1980 are revoked by the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988, which are to come into force on 14th March 1988. These Regulations therefore revoke the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) (Gas Volume Meters) Regulations 1983 and apply, subject to similar modifications, the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988 to those gas volume meters to which the 1983 Regulations applied. The principal modifications to the Measuring Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations 1988 are as follows: a The substitution for regulation 6 of a regulation providing that the prohibition on the use of meters not stamped under section 17 of the Gas Act 1986 or, as regards Northern Ireland, under Article 9 of the Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 is not to restrict the use of meters bearing the mark of EEC initial verification; b The disapplication of the requirements in regulations 8(4) and 11(3) respectively for publication of EEC pattern approvals and revocations of such approvals; c The substitution for regulation 13 of a regulation providing for EEC initial verification of gas volume meters by meter examiners; d The disapplication of the provisions in regulation 14 for the testing or examination of meter measuring systems; e The substitution for Part IV of supplementary provisions in respect of gas volume meters relating to — i the effect of revocation of EEC pattern approval (regulation 15), ii instruments of a defective pattern (regulation 16), iii the unauthorised application of EEC signs and marks (regulation 17), iv offences by corporations and the prosecution and punishment of offences (regulations 18 to 20).

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 is “guilty of 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