Application of Articles 2 and 3

Q: Is article 4(2) of The Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990 a strict liability offence?

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.

article 4(2) of The Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990

Revoked
Strict liability
International sanctions, export control and trade restrictions

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 Any person specified in paragraph
1 of this Article who contravenes the provisions of Article 2(1) or (2) or Article
3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: contravening a requirement of the instrument
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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach article 4(2)?

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.

On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes the provisions of Article 2(1) or (2) or Article 3.
Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990, whatever the reason for doing it.
Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2014
Covers fraud, false accounting, bribery and money laundering, including offences committed by organisations.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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
Revoked by: The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003 (revoked)
Revoked on: 14 June 2003
Made: 8 August 1990
In force from: 9 August 1990
Extent: E+W+S+NI

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

This Order imposes restrictions pursuant to a decision of the Security Council of the United Nations in Resolution No. 661 of 6th August 1990, on the exportation of goods from Iraq and Kuwait and on supply of goods to Iraq and Kuwait as well as certain related activities and dealings, including the carriage of such goods in British ships or aircraft. The Order also makes provision for the investigation of ships and aircraft that are suspected of contravening the Order.

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.

Scott Report Lords · 26 February 1996 · Lord Selsdon
My Lords, I must admit that until about five o'clock this afternoon I felt extremely confused by the events of recent weeks since the publication of the Scott Report. I admit that I have trawled though it, ploughed through it, harrowed through it, read most of it and understood a little of it. I am confused. It is as though we are seeing a strange pantomime emerging before us, a hit of Gilbert and Sullivan or for…
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill Lords · 1 July 2002 · Lord Goldsmith
moved Amendment No. 56: Page 96, leave out lines 35 to 43 and insert— "32 In section 9(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 (c. 6) (proceedings for offence under that Act), for "Attorney General for Northern Ireland" substitute "Advocate General for Northern Ireland". 33 In Article 8(11) of the Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/1651) (as substituted by the Iraq and Kuwait (United…

Other offences in the same instrument

Carriage of certain goods exported from or destined for Iraq or Kuwaitarticle 5(4)
Carriage of certain goods exported from or destined for Iraq or Kuwaitarticle 5(5)
Investigation, etc. of suspected British ships and aircraftarticle 6(8)
Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified…paragraph 5 of SCHEDULE

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions) Order 1990 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
International sanctions, export control and trade restrictionsOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1990