UK Offence Report

False statements relating to baggage, cargo etc.

paragraph 21A(1) of SCHEDULE 2 TO THIS ORDER of The Aviation Security and Piracy (Overseas Territories) Order 2000

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

1 Subject to subsection (3) below, a person commits an offence if, in answer to a question which— a relates to any baggage, cargo or stores (whether belonging to him or to another) that is or are intended for carriage by a civil aircraft registered or operating in the Territory, and b is put to him for purposes to which this Part of this Act applies— i by any of the persons mentioned in subsection (2) below, ii by any employee or agent of such a person in his capacity as employee or agent, or iii by a police officer, he makes a statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 paragraph 21A(1) of SCHEDULE 2 TO THIS ORDER?

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 Aviation Security and Piracy (Overseas Territories) Order 2000.
  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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
15 November 2000
In force from
6 December 2000
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 extends certain provisions of the Aviation Security Act 1982, (as amended) and of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, with adaptations and modifications, to the Territories specified in Schedule 1. A number of the provisions now forming part of Part I of the 1982 Act, were previously contained in the following instruments: Orders made under the Hijacking Act 1971 and the Protection of Aircraft Act 1973 in relation to all the Territories with the exception of Anguilla; and with respect to Anguilla, in an Order made under the 1982 Act. The present Order consolidates the earlier provisions together with: the provisions of Part II of the 1982 Act (as amended) which relate to the protection of aircraft, aerodromes and air navigation installations; the provisions of section 1 of the 1990 Act which relate to endangering safety at aerodromes, with appropriate adaptations and modifications. The Order also extends the provisions of section 26(1) and (2) of the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 relating to piracy to the Territories.

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 “commits 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