UK Offence Report

False statements

regulation 13(1) of The Highlands and Islands Agricultural Programme Regulations 1994

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 If the eligible person, for the purposes of obtaining for himself or any other person any financial assistance under these Regulations, knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false in any material particular he shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 eligible 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(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Highlands and Islands Agricultural Programme 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

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1994-12-30); 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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Agricultural Business Development Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2000
Revoked on
29 January 2001
Made
5 December 1994
In force from
30 December 1994
Extent
Not stated

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 lay down measures necessary to implement Council Regulation (EEC) No.4256/88 laying down provisions for implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No.2052/88 as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No.2085/93 as regards the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guidance Section and enable financial assistance to be received from that Section under an approved measure contained in the Single Programming Document (SPD) for the Highlands and Islands Objective 1 area approved by the EC Commission on 29th July 1994. Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No.2052/88 as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No.2081/93 requires the Struct`ural Funds to support the achievement of objectives set out in Articles 130a and 130c of the EC Treaty by contributing to the attainment of certain priority objectives, one of which is the promotion of the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind (Objective 1). Article 8 sets out those regions covered by Objective 1 and includes the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area being the area of Scotland comprising— a Highland Region; Western Isles Islands area; Orkney Islands area; Shetland Islands area; Argyll and Bute district; Arran, Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae in Cunninghame District; and b in Moray District, the Parishes of Aberlour, Cabrach, Dallas, Dyke, Edinkillie, Forres, Inveravon, Kinloss, Kirkmichael, Knockando, Mortlach, Rafford and Rothes and requires that a regional development plan be submitted to the EC Commission for appraisal to ensure that the plan is consistent with the objectives of the Council Regulations. Council Regulation (EEC) No.4253/88 lays down provisions for implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No.2052/88 as regards co-ordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds etc. as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No.2082/93. Article 14 deals with applications for assistance from the Structural Funds. The Regulations provide for financial assistance to be given towards the cost of farm development measures, and environmental enhancement measures specified respectively in Part A and B of the Schedule coming within the Agricultural Business Improvement Scheme, where it is clear that the payment will help to achieve the objective of improving the income generating potential of those employed in agriculture, maintaining rural employment and enhancing the environment. To benefit from financial assistance an eligible person must first submit to the Secretary of State for approval an application to undertake a resource audit and business assessment of the farm business (regulation 4). An eligible person who has had a resource audit and business assessment undertaken must then submit to the Secretary of State an application for approval (regulation 5). The application must indicate that the measure is being undertaken by an eligible person, that it is on an agricultural unit within the Objective area and that the measure is identified in the resource audit and business assessment as a priority for investment, and provide a statement of the specific benefits which the proposed measure will achieve. The Regulations also— a impose certain restrictions on the approval of the application (regulation 6); b allow variation of the approval (regulation 7); c set out the measures on which financial assistance can be given, the amount of financial assistance available, the maximum limits of financial assistance and provide for the payment thereof (regulation 8); d provide for how financial assistance may be claimed (regulation 9); e provide for the Secretary of State to determine the manner and timing of payment of the approved financial assistance (regulation 10); f confer a power of entry and inspection (regulation 11); g provide for the revocation of approval and the recovery of financial assistance paid (regulation 12); and h create an offence punishable on summary conviction of knowingly or recklessly making a false statement to obtain financial assistance (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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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