False statements etc.

regulation 3(1) of The Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997

• Status not determined
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Either way
• Education, social security, pensions and public services

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

1 A person who, for the purpose of obtaining, whether for himself or another, the issue of

a permit or certificate—

a knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement or representation which is false in

a material particular; or

b knowingly or recklessly furnishes

a document or information which is false in

a material particular; or

c for any purpose in connection with the Principal Regulation or the Subsidiary Regulation, knowingly or recklessly uses or furnishes

a false, falsified or invalid permit or certificate or one altered without authorisation, shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months, or to both, or on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or to

a fine, or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

What would breach regulation 3(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 Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997.
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

Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court

Maximum fine

£5,000

Standard scale

Level 5

Maximum prison (summary)

3 months

Maximum prison (on indictment)

2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1997-06-01); 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.

• Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.

• 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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 9903 — 09903 - Offences relating to the purchase and sale of specimens (Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997). That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status

Status not determined

Made

29 May 1997

In force from

1 June 1997

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 make provision for the enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 on the protection of species of wild flora and fauna by regulating trade therein (OJ L61, 3.3.97) (“the Principal Regulation”) and of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 939/97 which implements the Principal Regulation (“the Subsidiary Regulation”). The Principal Regulation implements in the Community the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). They revoke the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1985 (S.I. 1985/1155) which made provision for the enforcement of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82 (OJ No. L384, 31.12.82) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3418/83 (OJ No. L344, 7.12.83) which are revoked by the Principal Regulation. These Regulations provide for criminal offences relating to breach of requirements of the Principal Regulation and, in particular— regulation 3 creates a number of offences relating to the making of false statements or the furnishing of false information for the purpose of obtaining a permit or certificate under the Principal Regulation or Subsidiary Regulation; regulation 4 provides for offences relating to the misuse of such permits or certificates; regulation 5 refers to the powers of persons commissioned or authorised by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to require proof of lawful import or export of a specimen; regulation 6 makes it an offence to contravene any condition or requirement of a permit or certificate issued in accordance with the Principal Regulation or Subsidiary Regulation; regulation 7 makes it an offence to move a live specimen listed in Annex A of the Principal Regulation from the address specified in the import permit or in any other certificate relating to that specimen or to keep such a specimen at a different address without prior authorisation; regulation 8 creates a number of offences relating to a range of activities including the purchase and sale of specimens listed in Annex A of the Principal Regulation or of specimens listed in Annex B which have been imported or acquired unlawfully; Regulations 9 and 10 make provision for powers of entry, including the power to take samples from specimens, and seizure for the purposes of enforcement of the Principal Regulation. Regulation 11 provides for forfeiture of specimens and other things upon a conviction. Regulation 12 provides for the liability of corporations.

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.

• Wildlife Crime Commons · 10 October 2013 · Barry Gardiner

  I am very happy to accept what the hon. Gentleman says. He is, of course, right that there are many and complex reasons why a species may become extinct in the UK. However, the fact is that the species that I am talking about is on the brink and is being persecuted by some irresponsible gamekeepers. That is absolutely clear. I welcome all that the game industry is doing in terms of distraction feeding and so on; it…

• International Wildlife Crime Commons · 6 February 2014 · Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)

  I will do my best to keep within your five-minute time limit, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for nominating this important debate, particularly as it takes place the week before this most important high-level conference. It is clear that we need to send out a powerful message from this Chamber that we have to take action on illegal wildlife trade, and the conference at Lancaster…

• Ivory Bill Commons · 4 June 2018 · David Rutley

  We have already taken very strong action to combat the illegal trade in rhino horn. Other Members have also talked about the need to extend that to other ivory-bearing species—I will come on to that later if I can. Under clause 35, the Secretary of State does have powers to extend that ban if there is sufficient displacement. That is a delegated power and we will obviously take it very seriously. We can debate that…

• Ivory Bill (Fifth sitting) Commons · 19 June 2018 · David Rutley

  The clause provides for the new offences to be created under the Bill. The new offences have been developed to capture the likely chain of actions pertaining to commercial dealing in ivory or that support commercial dealing. Directly breaching the ban, causing it to be breached or facilitating a breach are all offences under the Bill. In practice, directly breaching the ban would include dealing in a prohibited…

Other offences in the same instrument

• False statements etcregulation 3(2)
• Misuse of permits and certificatesregulation 4(1)
• Misuse of permits and certificatesregulation 4(2)
• Misuse of permits and certificatesregulation 4(3)
• Compliance with permits or certificatesregulation 6
• Movement of live specimensregulation 7(1)
• Purchase and sale etcregulation 8(1)
• Purchase and sale etcregulation 8(2)
• Purchase and sale etcregulation 8(7)
• Powers of entryregulation 9(6)
• Powers of entryregulation 9(7)

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 Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Education, social security, pensions and public servicesOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 1997