UK Offence Report

Authorisations

regulation 3(2) of The Republic of Serbia (Prohibition on Investment) Regulations 1998

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

2 If, in connection with

a request for such an authorisation any person—

a makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which to his knowledge is false in

a material particular, or

b recklessly makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which is false in

a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence; and any authorisation granted pursuant to the request shall be void as from the time it was granted.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (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: recklessly.

What would breach regulation 3(2)?

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 Republic of Serbia (Prohibition on Investment) Regulations 1998.
  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)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1998-08-01); 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.

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
30 July 1998
In force from
1 August 1998
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 provide that any breach of Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1607/98 of 24th July 1998 (“the EC Regulation”) is to be a criminal offence. Article 1 prohibits the making of new investments in the Republic of Serbia except where authorisation has been granted in accordance with Article 2 of the EC Regulation. Regulation 3 of these Regulations provides that such authorisations are to be granted by or on behalf of the Treasury, and makes it an offence to provide false information in connection with a request for an authorisation. These Regulations also make provision for information to be requested by or on behalf of the Treasury for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the EC Regulation, in accordance with Article 4 of that Regulation. Failure to provide such information, the provision of false information or the suppression of information is made a criminal offence. Provision is also made with respect to penalties and proceedings for offences under the Regulations. Finally, the Regulations make a minor amendment to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia (Freezing of Funds) Regulations 1998.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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 0.92.

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