UK Offence Report

On-the-spot and deferred emissions tests

regulation 9(7) of The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002

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

7 A person who fails to comply with— a a paragraph (1) requirement, or b a requirement of paragraph (3)(a) or 4(a), shall be guilty of an offence and be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 9(7)?

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 fails to comply with— a a paragraph (1) requirement, or b a requirement of paragraph (3)(a) or 4(a).
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
Status not determined
Made
11 July 2002
In force from
18 July 2002
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.

The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) Regulations 1997 (“the 1997 Regulations”) empower certain local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales (“participating authorities”) to issue fixed penalty notices to users of vehicles within their areas who contravene or fail to comply with regulation 61, 61A or 98 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (“the 1986 Regulations”). Those regulations are concerned with emissions of smoke, vapour, gases, oily substances, etc. These Regulations replace the 1997 Regulations, for England only. The 1997 Regulations continue to have effect in Scotland and Wales. Under these Regulations a local authority in England may apply to the Secretary of State for designation. A local authority so designated may use fixed penalty notices to enforce offences under regulations 61 and 61A of the 1986 Regulations in its area. These Regulations also provide for the enforcement by fixed penalty notice of offences under so much of regulation 98 of the 1986 Regulations as relates to the prevention of exhaust emissions. That power is exercisable by district councils, London borough councils, some county councils, the Common Council of the City of London and, as respects the Temples, by the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple. In Part 1, regulation 2 defines terms used in the Regulations. In Part 2, regulation 3 specifies the circumstances in which an application for designation can be made, and the documents that must accompany the application. Regulation 4 sets out the criteria for designation and regulation 5 provides for the revocation of designations. In Part 3, regulation 6 contains provisions relating to the authorisation of persons to carry out emission tests on vehicles, to ensure compliance with the stopping of engines of stationary vehicles and to issue fixed penalty notices. In Part 4, regulation 7 prescribes two offences under the 1986 Regulations as fixed penalty offences for the purposes of the Regulations. The first is referable to regulations 61 and 61A of the 1986 Regulations, and attracts a fixed penalty of £60 under regulation 8. The second is referable to so much of regulation 98 of the 1986 Regulations as deals with the prevention of exhaust emissions, and attracts a fixed penalty of £20 under regulation 8. (The amounts may be increased in accordance with regulation 17, or reduced or waived in accordance with regulation 19.) Part 5 contains provisions (regulations 9 to 11) which confer power to conduct emission tests and deal with other matters relevant to the first of the fixed penalty offences. Part 6 contains provisions (regulations 12 to 14) which confer power to stop the running of the engine of a stationary vehicle and deal with other matters relevant to the second of the fixed penalty offences. In Part 7, regulations 15 and 16 provide for the timing of the issue of fixed penalty notices and their content. Regulation 17 deals with the effect of fixed penalty notices, and provides for the increase of the penalty where payment is not made in accordance with the notice. Regulation 18 enables a person who has been issued with a fixed penalty notice to ask for a hearing in respect of the offence to which the notice relates. Regulation 19 provides for the making of an application to reduce the amount of the fixed penalty or to waive it altogether. Regulation 20 deals with the withdrawal of fixed penalty notices. In Part 8, regulations 21 and 22 deal with the recovery of unpaid fixed penalties and regulation 23 makes provision in connection with the issue of notices under the Regulations. Regulation 25 revokes the 1997 Regulations with respect to England.

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.

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