UK Offence Report

Use of public service vehicles without Community licence

regulation 3 of The Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 1999 (revoked)

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

3 A person who uses

a vehicle in Great Britain in contravention of Article 3a(1) of the Council Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 3?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person uses a vehicle in Great Britain in contravention of Article 3a(1) of the Council Regulation.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 1999, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
10 May 1999
In force from
1 June 1999
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 give effect in Great Britain to Article a of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 684/92 of 16 March 1992 (“the Council Regulation”) on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 11/98 of 11 December 1997. The Council Regulation establishes a Community-wide licence allowing carriers operating public service vehicles access to the market for the international carriage of passengers by road. The Council Regulation, which has direct effect in member States, prohibits the carriage of passengers in public service vehicles between member States without a Community licence (Article 3a(1)). These Regulations enforce the prohibition by imposing a penalty for breach (regulation 3) and designating competent authorities for the purposes of the Council Regulation (regulation 4). The Council Regulation lays down the conditions for the issue and use of such licences. Each member State is to issue a Community licence to any carrier established in that State who is entitled to carry out international passenger transport operations. In Great Britain such entitlement is signified by the issue under section 13 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 of a standard licence authorising both national and international operations, or of a restricted licence. The Regulations accordingly confer entitlement to a Community licence on the basis of the relevant Great Britain licence (regulation 5). The form of the Community licence is prescribed in the Council Regulation (Article 3a(1) and the Annex), as is the period of validity (Article 3a(4)) and the grounds for refusal or withdrawal of the licence (Article 3a(7) and condition 5 of the model licence set out in the Annex). The holder of a Community licence must keep the original, and a certified copy must be kept in each public service vehicle carrying out an international transport operation (Article 3a(2) and condition 6 of the model licence). The original licence or a certified true copy thereof must be produced to an authorised inspecting officer on demand (Article 3a(3) and condition 7 of the model licence). Regulation 8 designates authorised inspecting officers for this purpose. Regulation 7 provides for the creation of an offence of failing to comply with any of the conditions governing the use of the licence. These Regulations implement the Council Regulation by conferring rights of appeal against refusal or withdrawal of the licence (regulation 6). They also require a holder to return the Community licence and all certified true copies if it is withdrawn, and to return certified true copies if they are suspended or withdrawn or if the number of vehicles authorised to be used is reduced (regulation 9). Regulation 10 provides for the holder to supply information to the competent authority, and for the creation of an offence in the event of non-compliance. Provision is made for the automatic transfer of a Community licence in certain circumstances following the death, bankruptcy or incapacity of the holder (regulation 11). Provision is made in relation to offences committed by a body corporate (regulation 12). Provision is made in regulation 13 for modification of the Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972, so that an authorised inspecting officer may prohibit the driving of a vehicle on the road, where it appears to him that there has been a contravention of regulation 3 or 7. A regulatory impact assessment is not required as the system of Community licences will not impose any additional costs or savings and will have a negligible impact on business.

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