UK Offence Report

False statements

regulation 19 of The Organic Farming (Wales) Regulations 1999

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

19 If any person, for the purposes of obtaining any aid for himself or any other person, knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false in

a material particular, that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

What would breach regulation 19?

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 Organic Farming (Wales) Regulations 1999.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1999-10-12); 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
17 September 1999
In force from
12 October 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, which apply to Wales, provide for the payment of aid to farmers who undertake to introduce organic farming methods and comply with certain environmental management conditions, pursuant to Article 2(1)(a) and (d) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92 (OJ No. L215, 30.7.92, p.85) (“the Agri-environment Regulation”). These Regulations implement certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 746/96 (OJ No. L102, 25.4.96, p.19) (“the Commission Regulation”), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 435/97 (OJ No. L67, 7.3.97, p.2), laying down detailed rules for the application of the Agri-environment Regulation, in particular Article 11(3)(b) (which concerns the extension, during the currency of an undertaking, of the area subject to that undertaking), Article 13 (which provides for transfers from one undertaking to another in certain circumstances) and Article 20 (which provides for recovery of wrongful payments with interest, a penalty system and exclusion for false declarations). The powers which are conferred by these Regulations are exercisable subject to the terms of certain other provisions of the Commission Regulation, in particular Article 10 (which restricts duplication of aid payments), Article 11 (which governs transfers of holdings which are subject to agreements or undertakings under the Agri-environment Regulation), Article 12 (force majeure) and Article 14 (which governs undertakings and procedures). The Regulations— a enable the Assembly to make payments of aid, subject to specified conditions, and specify the rate of aid (regulations 3 and 4); b specify the conditions of eligibility to be satisfied by applicants for aid (regulation 5), certain procedural and formal preconditions for the acceptance of applications for aid (regulations 6 and 9), and certain restrictions on the payment of aid (regulation 7); and permit the Assembly to refuse applications for aid in the event that financial resources available for aid under the Regulations are insufficient (regulation 8); c provide for variations of undertakings given by applicants for aid and amendments to conversion plans (regulations 10 and 11); d provide for the payment of aid to a new occupant where there has been a change in the occupation of an organic unit or part of an organic unit due to the death of a beneficiary or otherwise (regulation 12); e enable certain beneficiaries of aid under the Organic Farming Regulations 1994 (“the 1994 Regulations”) to apply to be treated as entitled to aid under these Regulations in lieu of any further entitlement under the 1994 Regulations (regulation 13); f impose obligations in respect of the keeping of records and confer powers of entry and inspection (regulations 14 and 15); g provide for the withholding or recovery of aid and the recovery of interest (regulations 16, 17 and 18); h provide for an offence of making a false statement, and make provision in relation to any such offence committed by a corporation (regulations 19 and 20); i amend the Land in Care Scheme (Tir Gofal) (Wales) Regulations 1999 to allow the aid under those Regulations to be refused or reduced where payment would otherwise lead to duplication of aid payments (regulation 21); and j close the scheme established by the 1994 Regulations to further applications (regulation 22). The UKROFS standards are published by and copies are available from the Office of the Secretary to UKROFS, Room G47, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. Copies of the Moorland Map of Wales 1992 can be inspected during office hours at the offices of the National Assembly for Wales at: Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ Government Buildings, Penrallt, Caernarfon, LL55 1EP Government Buildings, Picton Terrace, Carmarthen, Dyfed, SA31 3BT Government Buildings, Spa Road East, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, LD1 5HA Copies of the Codes of Good Agricultural Practice for the protection of Soil, Air, Water and Pesticides (referred to in paragraph 10 of Schedule 2) are available free of charge from The National Assembly for Wales, Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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