UK Offence Report

False Representations or Declaration

regulation 4 of The European Communities (Recognition of Qualifications and Experience) (Third General System) Regulations 2002

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

4 Any person who procures or attempts to procure the issue of

a certificate by making or producing or causing to be made or produced any false or fraudulent representation or declaration, either orally or in writing, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 a 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 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 regulation 4?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person procures or attempts to procure the issue of a certificate by making or producing or causing to be made or produced any false or fraudulent representation or declaration.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the European Communities (Recognition of Qualifications and Experience) (Third General System) Regulations 2002.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. 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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 European Communities (Recognition of Qualifications and Experience) (Third General System) (Amendment) Regulations 2002
Revoked on
8 August 2002
Made
18 June 2002
In force from
16 July 2002
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.

(This note does not form part of the Regulations) These Regulations implement Directive 99/42 which provides for mutual recognition in the Member States of qualifications in respect of the activities described in the Annexes to the Directive. The Directive provides for the recognition of experience as a means of entry to these activities on the same basis as for persons having the formal qualifications required in particular Member States. These activities are described using the descriptions in the various directives whose provisions are consolidated or modernised. Part 1 of the Regulations makes provision for the issuing of certificates of experience by the Secretary of State. The profession of farrier is an activity within the scope of the Directive to which access in the United Kingdom is regulated by law on the basis of particular qualifications or experience. Part 2 of the Regulations provide for the amendment of the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975 to bring its provisions into line with the requirements of the Directive. A transposition note is available and copies of it have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies of the transposition note are also available from the Diplomas Unit, Europe and World Trade Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry, Room 212, Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6SW.

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