UK Offence Report

Forgery and deception

regulation 20(1) of The Motor Cycles Etc. (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1999

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 A person who, with intent to deceive–

a forges, alters or uses an EC type approval certificate or an EC certificate of conformity, or

b lends an EC type approval certificate or an EC certificate of conformity to another person, or

c allows an EC type approval certificate or an EC certificate of conformity to be used by another person, or

d makes any document so closely resembling an EC type approval certificate or an EC certificate of conformity as to be calculated to deceive, or

e has in his possession any document so closely resembling an EC type approval certificate or an EC certificate of conformity as to be calculated to deceive, shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (with intent to).

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: with intent to.

What would breach regulation 20(1)?

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 Motor Cycles Etc. (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1999.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 Motorcycles (Type-Approval) Regulations 2018
Revoked on
20 May 2018
Made
25 October 1999
In force from
30 November 1999
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 consolidate with amendments the Motor Cycles (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1995. The Regulations implement Council Directive 92/61/EEC which provides that Member States must set up a system for granting EC type approval for two or three-wheel motor vehicles (mopeds, motor cycles and motor tricycles) and certain four-wheel vehicles (quadricycles). Decisions about granting EC type approval must be made in accordance with Council Directive 92/61/EEC and the separate Directives listed in Schedule 1. That list is expanded in order to implement a number of Directives adopted since the making of the Motor Cycles (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1995 and the Motor Cycles (EC Type Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 1997. The Directives concerned are as follows. Directive 97/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council makes provision about certain components and characteristics of two or three-wheel motor vehicles, namely tyres, lighting and light-signalling devices, external projections, rear view mirrors, measures to counter pollution, fuel tanks, measures to counter tampering, electromagnetic compatibility, permissible sound level and exhaust systems, coupling devices and attachments, safety belt anchorages and safety belts, glazing, windscreen wipers and washers and de-icing and de-misting devices. Commission Directive 1999/23/EC amends Council Directive 93/33/EEC relating to protective devices intended to prevent the unauthorised use of two or three-wheel motor vehicles. Commission Directive 1999/24/EC amends Council Directive 93/32/EEC relating to passenger hand holds for two-wheel motor vehicles. Commission Directive 1999/25/EC amends Council Directive 93/34/EEC relating to statutory markings for two or three-wheel motor vehicles. Commission Directive 1999/26/EC amends Council Directive 93/94/EEC relating to the space for mounting the rear registration plate of two or three-wheel motor vehicles. The Regulations impose a requirement for an EC certificate of conformity, Minister’s approval certificate or Department’s approval certificate before the first licence or nil licence is granted for a vehicle under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. This requirement will apply to all vehicles to which the Regulations apply (subject to specified exceptions) from 17th June 2003. Until that date the requirement does not apply if the vehicle belongs to the same type as a vehicle used before 17th June 1999. The Regulations make amendments to the Road Traffic Act 1988, the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 and the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. Copies of the EEC and EC Directives referred to in these Regulations can be obtained from the Stationery Office.

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