UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994

the instrument as a whole of The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
7 December 1994
In force from
1 January 1995
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 are made under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the European Communities Act 1972. They replace the Motor Vehicles Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1984. These Regulations, unlike the 1984 Regulations, do not in terms require tyres to meet specified standards. They do, however, prohibit the supply of tyres that do not bear a mark indicating compliance with specified standards and also the supply of tyres that bear a mark that is false. The main changes made by these Regulations are as follows: the provisions in the Regulations relating to the supply of tyres that are neither retreaded nor part-worn cover a wider class of tyres including, in particular, motor cycle tyres; the Regulations prohibit the supply of a retreaded tyre (other than a part-worn tyre) if it bears a mark indicating compliance with specified ECE Regulations or Council Directive 92/23/EEC; new restrictions are imposed on the supply of part-worn tyres; and changes have been made to the exemptions. Regulation 3 modifies the Regulations in relation to Northern Ireland. Regulation 4 provides that no person shall supply any tyre (not being a retreaded or part-worn tyre) designed so as to be capable of being fitted to a wheel of a passenger car or light trailer unless it is marked in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations. The regulation requires a tyre to be marked in accordance with ECE Regulation 30 (as originally made or as amended), ECE Regulation 54 or Council Directive 92/23/EEC. Regulation 5 is in similar terms to regulation 4 but relates to motor cycles tyres. The markings have to be in accordance with ECE Regulation 30 (as originally made or as amended), ECE Regulation 54, ECE Regulation 75 or Council Directive 92/23/EEC. Regulation 6 provides that no person shall supply any retreaded tyre (not being a part-worn tyre) designed so as to be capable of being fitted to a wheel of a passenger car, commercial vehicle or trailer unless the requirements of the regulation are met. The first requirement is that the tyre must not bear any marks indicating that it complies with ECE Regulation 30 (as originally made or as amended), ECE Regulation 54 or with Council Directive 92/23/EEC. The second requirement is that the tyre must be marked in accordance with paragraph 6 of “The British Standard Automobile Series: Specification for retreaded car and commercial vehicle tyres” published by the British Standards Institution on 30 September 1988 as amended by Amendment No. 1 published on the 31 August 1990 and by Amendment No. 2 published on 15 December 1992. The third requirement applies to a tyre that has been repaired during the course of retreading. The requirement is that in such a case it must have been properly repaired. Regulation 7 provides that no person shall supply a part-worn tyre (not being a retreaded tyre) designed so as to be capable of being fitted to a wheel of a motor vehicle or trailer or any part-worn retreaded tyre designed so as to be capable of being fitted to a wheel of a passenger car, commercial vehicle or trailer unless the requirements of the regulation are met. The regulation imposes various requirements relating to the condition of a tyre. There are also requirements relating to the marking of a tyre. Regulations 8, 9 and 10 exempt certain tyres from the provisions of regulations 4 to 7. Regulation 11 contains transitional exemptions. Regulation 12 contains provisions relating to misleading marks. Regulation 13 makes provision for standards which are equivalent to the British Standards referred to in the Regulations. This provision implements obligations under Article 30 of the EEC Treaty. A compliance cost assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Department of Transport, Room C19/08, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies of Council Directive 92/23/EEC and of the ECE Regulations can be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Copies of the British Standards can be obtained from the British Standards Institution, Sales Department, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6LE (telephone 01908 221166).

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 0.55.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.55 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