UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997

the instrument as a whole of The Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997

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 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
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. Selling the goods under the Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  2. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  3. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

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 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

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
28 February 1997
In force from
10 May 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 with regard to the safe operation of transport systems. They also make other provision. Regulation 2 defines transport systems as meaning, subject to specified exceptions, railways, tramways and prescribed systems of guided transport. Regulation 3 places a duty on infrastructure controllers, so far as is reasonably practicable and where and to the extent necessary for safety, to prevent unauthorised access to the infrastructure of transport systems (subject to specified exceptions). Regulation 4 places a duty on operators of vehicles being used for the carriage of fare paying passengers to provide and maintain means of communication between passengers and a person who in an emergency is in a position to take appropriate action. Regulation 5 provides for infrastructure controllers to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that procedures are in place and equipment is provided and maintained for the purpose of preventing collisions and derailments. Regulation 6 places a duty on vehicle operators to provide and maintain suitable and sufficient braking systems for their vehicles. Regulation 7 provides for specified persons to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that procedures are in place and equipment is provided and maintained for the purpose of preventing persons at work on a transport system from being struck by or falling from a moving vehicle. Regulation 8 provides for certificates of exemption to be granted by the Health and Safety Executive. Regulation 9 provides a defence to any offence under these Regulations where the person charged has taken all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence. Regulation 10 provides for certain functions of the Secretary of State under the Transport and Works Act 1992 and the Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment) Regulations 1994 (approvals of works, plant and equipment and directions limiting speeds and loads) to be transferred to the Health and Safety Executive. Regulation 11 makes minor amendments to the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1989 and regulation 12 the repeals and revocations specified in the Schedule.

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 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 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