UK Offence Report

False statements

regulation 13 of The Habitats (Scotland) Regulations 1994

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

13 If any person, for the purposes of obtaining for himself or any other person any aid under the scheme, knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in

a material particular, that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 13?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Habitats (Scotland) Regulations 1994.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
Revoked by
The Habitats (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1996
Revoked on
1 January 1997
Made
17 October 1994
In force from
22 November 1994
Extent
S

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

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

These Regulations, which apply to Scotland, implement in part Council Regulation (EEC) No.2078/92 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside. They make provision for the payment of aid to farmers who undertake such agricultural production methods. Farmers will either set aside farmland for at least 20 years with a view to its use for purposes connected with the environment pursuant to Article 2(1)(f) or undertake to use other farming practices compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and natural resources, as well as maintenance of the countryside and landscape pursuant to Article 2(1)(d) of Council Regulation (EEC) No.2078/92. The Regulations– a enable the Secretary of State to make payments of aid to applicants satisfying the conditions of, and applying in accordance with the regulations (regulation 3); b specify the conditions of eligibility to be satisfied by applicants for aid (regulation 4); c specify the management requirements and special criteria for the acceptance of a habitat site (regulation 5 and Schedules); d specify the conditions for the participation of crofters common grazings committees (regulation 6); e specify the requirements in relation to applications for aid and the documents to accompany such applications (regulation 7); f specify the restrictions on the acceptance of applications by the Secretary of State (regulation 8); g make provision for the payment of aid to a new occupant where there has been a change in the occupation of a farm or part of a farm due to the death of a beneficiary or otherwise (regulation 9); h specify the period, amount and method of payment of aid (regulation 10); i confer on authorised persons power of entry for the purposes of the Regulations and require that reasonable assistance be given to them for the exercise of these powers (regulation 11); j specify circumstances when the Secretary of State may withhold aid or recover payments already made (regulations 9 and 12); and k create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 13).

Read the full note and every offence in this 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