UK Offence Report

2 A person who– a contravenes any of the provisions of regulation 14(3) or regulation 15 above; b fails or…

regulation 20(2) of The Simple Pressure Vessels (Safety) Regulations 1991 (revoked)

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

2 A person who–

a contravenes any of the provisions of regulation 14(3) or regulation

15 above;

b fails or refuses to give information or explanation required by regulation 14(5) above; or

c fails to comply with

a court order under regulation

21 below, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding–

i in Great Britain, level

5 on the standard scale; or

ii in Northern Ireland, £2,000.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 comply with a notice or direction
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 20(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.

  1. Being served with a notice under the Simple Pressure Vessels (Safety) Regulations 1991 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  2. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  3. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1991-12-31); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
5 December 1991
In force from
31 December 1991
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 implement Council Directive 87/404/EEC on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to simple pressure vessels as amended by Council Directive 90/488/EEC. Regulation 2(1) defines simple pressure vessels, in the Regulations referred to as “vessels”. Regulation 3 provides for the application of the Regulations. Paragraph (1) provides that the Regulations only apply to simple pressure vessels manufactured in series. Paragraph (2) provides that vessels for nuclear use or for use in the propulsive system of a ship or aircraft, and fire extinguishers, are excluded. Regulation 4 sets out, in conjuction with Schedules 1 and 2, the safety requirements which vessels must satisfy. Regulation 5 imposes a duty not to supply a vessel to which the Regulations apply (or an assembly incorporating such a vessel) unless it complies with regulation 4, and duties on a manufacturer of such a vessel or an importer of such a vessel or assembly not to take it (or an assembly incorporating the vessel manufactured or imported) into service unless the vessel complies with regulation 4. Regulation 20(1) provides that it is an offence to contravene regulation 5, punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or a fine (not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale – £2,000 on the date of making these Regulations – in Great Britain, or £2,000 in Northern Ireland) or both. Regulation 6 sets out exceptions to regulation 5. The Regulations do not apply to a vessel first supplied or taken into service in the European Community before 1 July 1992 where either it is supplied or taken into service in the United Kingdom and complies with existing United Kingdom safety requirements, or it is supplied in the United Kingdom for taking into service in another member State and complies with that State’s existing safety requirements. The Regulations do not apply where the vessel is for export to a country outside the Community. Regulations 7 to 13 and Schedule 3 and 4 make provision for the appointment ofapproved bodies (regulation 7), the functions of such bodies as regards the provision of safety clearance for vessels (regulations 9 to 13 and Schedules 3 and 4) and the fees chargeable by such bodies in respect of such functions (regulation 8). Regulations 16 to 18 make provision with respect to EC surveillance in relation to certain vessels. Regulation 14 (in conjunction with Schedule 2) makes provision with respect to the application of the EC mark to vessels. Regulation 15 provides for duties upon manufacturers to retain certain documentation. Regulation 20(2) creates certain offences relating to misuse of the EC mark and failure either to retain documentation or give information as required by the Regulations or to comply with a court order under regulation 21, for which the penalty is a fine not exceeding level 5 of the standard scale in Great Britain or £2,000 in Northern Ireland. Regulations 19 (in conjuction with Schedule 5), 22 and 23 make provision for the enforcement of these Regulations and with respect to offences thereunder. Regulation 24 disapplies certain legislation in cases where these Regulations apply.

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