UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

paragraph 1(1) of SCHEDULE 5 of The Passenger Car (Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions Information) Regulations 2001

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 It shall be an offence to contravene— regulation 5 (suppliers' duty in respect of the provision of figures); regulation 6 (dealers' duty in respect of the fuel economy label); regulation 7 (dealers' duty in respect of the fuel economy guide); regulation 8 (dealers' duty in respect of

a poster or display); regulation 9 (dealers' and suppliers' duties in respect of promotional literature); regulation 10 (dealers' and suppliers' duties in respect of promotional literature.); paragraph

5 of this Schedule (obstruction of authorised officers and false statements); or paragraph 6(7) of this Schedule (prohibition of purported search and seizure by an unauthorised person).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 unauthorised person
Conduct
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 unauthorised 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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

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

The defence, as drafted

tions it shall be a defence for that person to show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence. 2 Where in any proceedings (which in Scotland include the trial diet) against any person for such an offence the defence provided for by sub-paragraph (1) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due— a to

What would breach paragraph 1(1) of SCHEDULE 5?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Passenger Car (Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions Information) Regulations 2001.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

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 (2001-11-21); 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
30 October 2001
In force from
21 November 2001
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 implement Council Directive 1999–94 which relates to the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars. Such information is measured in accordance with Council Directive 80/1268/EEC and is referred to in these Regulations as “official fuel consumption” and “official specific emissions of CO2” figures. The Regulations apply to all new passenger cars for which an EC certificate of conformity has been issued (regulations 3 and 4). The provisions of the Passenger Car Fuel Consumption Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/1486) which also regulate this area, are disapplied in respect of such vehicles (regulation 2). Duties are imposed on suppliers of and dealers in passenger cars to which the Regulations apply. The duties include the provision of the relevant information by suppliers to dealers (regulation 5) and that, at the point of sale for new passenger cars, a label with information in a specified form on fuel economy and CO2 emissions relating to each model is displayed by the dealer (regulation 6). Regulation 7 provides that a guide covering fuel economy and CO2 emissions must also be available free of charge to consumers who request one, and regulation 8 provides that a poster or display incorporating the relevant information must be exhibited in a prominent position at the point of sale. Regulation 9 provides that the relevant information must also be available on promotional literature relating to new passenger cars. Schedules 1 to 4 of the Regulations prescribe the form which the guide, label, poster and promotional material should take. The inclusion of misleading or confusing information in the material relating to fuel economy and specific emissions of CO2 is prohibited under regulation 10. Regulation 11 and Schedule 5 provide for offences and enforcement. Offences are created for failure to comply with the duties created by the Regulations, enforced by Weights and Measures authorities in Great Britain, and in Northern Ireland by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. Under paragraph 1 of Schedule 5 it is an offence to contravene any of the duties specified in regulations 5 to 10 as well as certain enforcement provisions in the Schedule. Paragraph 2 of the Schedule provides for the bringing of criminal proceedings, paragraph 3 of the Schedule establishes certain defences and paragraphs 4 to 8 contain provisions (including powers of entry and seizure) aimed at assisting enforcement. Copies of the Directives and Regulations which are relevant to these Regulations can be obtained from the Stationery Office. A Regulatory Impact Assessment for Directive 99/94 has been prepared and copies may be obtained from the Vehicle Standards and Engineering Division, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Zone 4/17, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR, telephone number 020 7944 2097. A copy has been placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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