UK Offence Report

Provisions for securing that an additional pipe-line is so constructed as to reduce necessity for…

paragraph 9A(5) of SCHEDULE of The Deregulation (Pipe-lines) Order 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

5 If the owner of

a pipe-line fails to comply with

a requirement imposed by

a notice served under subsection (2) of this section with reference to the line he shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale; and, if the failure continues after his conviction, he shall be guilty of

a further offence and liable, in respect thereof, to

a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds for each day on which the failure continues.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an owner
Conduct
failing to comply with a notice or direction
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 an owner 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 paragraph 9A(5) of SCHEDULE?

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. Being served with a notice under the Deregulation (Pipe-lines) Order 1999 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  2. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  3. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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
6 March 1999
In force from
Not determined
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order is made under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 which allows statutory provisions to be amended, without removing any necessary protection, in order to reduce burdens affecting persons carrying on business. This Order amends the Pipe-lines Act 1962 which regulates and facilitates the construction of onshore pipe-lines. The 1962 Act covers all onshore pipe-lines in Great Britain except those of public gas transporters, the water companies, the Government and some other minor classes of pipes (see sections 58 to 62 of the 1962 Act). The Act creates two categories of pipe-lines. “Cross-country” pipe-lines (defined as those which exceed 16.093 kilometres in length) require authorisation from the Secretary of State under section 1 of the 1962 Act by means of a pipe-line construction authorisation which carries with it deemed planning permission. Pipe-lines 16.093 kilometres in length or less are classed as “local pipe-lines” and are subject to section 2 of the 1962 Act which requires notification to the Secretary of State at least sixteen weeks prior to construction. Local pipe-lines require local authority planning permission under the normal planning system. This Order amends the procedure set out in the First Schedule to the 1962 Act for dealing with objections to applications for pipe-line construction authorisations. Currently, the Secretary of State cannot grant a pipe-line construction authorisation until any outstanding objections to the application for it have first been heard either at a public inquiry or hearing. This Order introduces a procedure allowing objections to be dealt with by means of written representations rather than by an oral hearing or a public inquiry. Objections will only be dealt with in this way if all objectors and the applicant so agree. This Order repeals section 2 of the 1962 Act so that in future the Secretary of State will not have to be notified of the construction of local pipe-lines. This Order also repeals section 7 of the 1962 Act. At present if a new pipe-line is to be added to another pipe-line, or connects two other pipe-lines, such that their combined length exceeds 16.093 kilometres, section 7(1) requires the new pipe to be authorised by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the Act. The repeal of section 7 means that in future an authorisation from the Secretary of State will only be required for the construction of a pipe where the length of the pipe being constructed is over 16.093 kilometres in length, regardless of the length of any pipe to which the new pipe is to be connected. Under section 3(1) of the 1962 Act, a pipe-line diversion authorisation from the Secretary of State is required if a cross-country pipe is to be diverted outside permitted limits of deviation. A pipe-line diversion authorisation is also required for a local pipe-line for a diversion which makes the new length of the line as a whole more than 16.093 kilometres. This Order repeals section 3 of the 1962 Act so that diversions of existing pipes will be treated in the same way as the construction of new pipes, i.e. authorisation from the Secretary of State will only be required where the length of the section being constructed for the diversion is over 16.093 kilometres in length. However, the Order amends section 1 of the 1962 Act so that where a cross-country pipe-line is to be diverted after a pipe-line construction authorisation has been granted but prior to construction of the line in question, a pipe-line construction authorisation will be required for the diversion, whatever its length. The Order also makes a number of consequential amendments, including amendments to preserve the powers of the Secretary of State under the existing sections 9 and 10 of the Act to avoid the construction of superfluous pipe-lines.

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 0.92.

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