UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997

the instrument as a whole of The Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2010 (revoked)
Made
23 September 1997
In force from
15 October 1997
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 (which do not extend to Northern Ireland) revoke and re-enact with amendments the provisions of the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1996 and make other provision relating to the safety of fireworks and assemblies which include fireworks. The Regulations provide that fireworks and assemblies classified as category 1, category 2 or category 3 under British Standard 7114 must comply with that Standard (regulation 3(1)). For these purposes, BS 7114 is to be read subject to certain modifications (regulation 2(4) and Schedule 1), and the Regulations provide a limited exception for certain sparklers (regulation 3(3)). The Regulations also impose size and weight requirements for certain specified fireworks and assemblies which are in certain respects stricter than those contained in BS 7114. Subject to exceptions referred to below, the Regulations prohibit the supply of fireworks and assemblies which contravene these requirements (regulation 3(2) and Schedule 2). The Regulations prohibit the supply of fireworks of erratic flight and mini-rockets, but provide an exception for supplies to any person for use, in the course of a trade or business of his, for special effects purposes in the theatre, on film or on television (regulation 4(1) and (3)). The Regulations prohibit the supply of aerial shells, shells-in-mortar, aerial maroons and maroons-in-mortar and also certain assemblies which include these devices. They also prohibit the supply of bangers (including combinations and batteries containing bangers, but not wheels containing bangers) and fireworks classified as category 4 under British Standard 7114 (regulation 4(2)). These prohibitions are subject to exceptions referred to below. Further, the Regulations prohibit the supply of any firework or assembly which is not listed in Schedule 3 (regulation 4(2)(g)), again subject to exceptions referred to below. The exceptions referred to above enable the fireworks and assemblies to which they relate to be supplied to— a any person who is in business as a professional organiser or operator of firework displays; b any person whose trade or business, or part of whose trade or business, is the supply of fireworks or assemblies, for the purpose of supplying them in accordance with these Regulations; c local authorities, Government departments and naval, military and air force establishments, for the purposes of firework displays or for use at national public celebrations or commemorative events (or, in the case of Government departments, for research or investigations purposes); d any person for use, in the course of his trade or business, for special effects purposes in the theatre, on film or on television; e bodies with enforcement powers when they make certain test purchases; and f persons who supply goods for use with fireworks or assemblies and who intend to use the fireworks or assemblies to ensure that the goods they supply perform correctly or comply with safety legislation (regulation 5). The Regulations prohibit the supply of fireworks and assemblies (other than caps, cracker snaps, novelty matches, party poppers, serpents and throwdowns) to persons apparently under the age of eighteen (regulation 6). The Regulations also require specified fireworks and assemblies to be marked with the words “This device must not be sold to, or used by, a member of the general public”. Packets of sparklers must be marked with the words “Warning: not to be given to children under 5 years of age” (regulation7). Finally, the Regulations prohibit retailers from supplying any firework which they have removed, caused to be removed, or know to have been removed from a primary pack or a selection pack. For the purposes of the requirement to comply with BS 7114, the size and weight requirements and the marking requirements, the Regulations allow for the supply of fireworks and assemblies which comply with any standard or specification recognised for use in a member State of the European Community or any other State within the European Economic Area, so long as that standard or specification provides an equivalent level of safety (regulation 2(5) and (6)). Copies of British Standard 7114, and the British Standards referred to in it, are available from any of the sales outlets operated by the British Standards Institution (BSI), by post from BSI at 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL or from any of the bookshops operated by the Stationery Office Limited. These Regulations were notified in draft to the European Commission in accordance with Council Directive 83/189/EEC (O.J. No. L109, 26.4.1983, p.8), as amended. A compliance cost assessment is available, copies of which have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies are also available from the Consumer Affairs and Competition Policy Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry, Room 4.H.3, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.

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.

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