UK Offence Report

1 A person commits an offence if with intent to deceive (whether expressly or by implication)— a he falsely…

article 44(1) of The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 A person commits an offence if with intent to deceive (whether expressly or by implication)—

a he falsely represents himself to be registered in the register, or

a particular part of it or to be the subject of any entry in the register;

b he uses

a title referred to in article 6(2) to which he is not entitled;

c he falsely represents himself to possess qualifications in nursing or midwifery.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 (with intent to).

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: with intent to.

What would breach article 44(1)?

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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001.

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 (2002-02-12); 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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 19618 — 19618 - Summary offences under Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Revoked
Revoked by
The Enterprise Act 2002 (Consequential and Supplemental Provisions) Order 2003
Revoked on
20 June 2003
Made
12 February 2002
In force from
12 February 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order provides for the regulation of nurses and midwives and creates a regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is required to set standards of education, training, conduct and performance and to put in place arrangements to ensure that they are met (article 3). It provides for the Council to keep a register of qualified nurses and midwives and creates four statutory committees: the Investigating Committee, Conduct and Competence Committee, Health Committee and Midwifery Committee (article 3(9)). The Order replaces the regulatory system provided for by the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1997. The Order provides for the Council to set standards and requirements to be satisfied before a person may be admitted to the register (article 5) and to deal with applications for registration, renewal of registration or readmittance in accordance with Part III and rules made under it. Articles 13 and 14 indicate the qualifications on which registration may be based. The register is to be published (article 8). The Order provides in Part IV for the Council to establish standards of education and training necessary for admission to the register; to make arrangements to ensure that those standards are met; and to approve qualifications, courses and institutions which meet its standards (articles 15 to 18). The Council may also provide for post-registration training and require a nurse or midwife who has not practised for some time to undertake additional training (article 19). The Order provides for the Council to liaise with educational institutions (article 3 and Part IV). Part V provides for the Council to establish and keep under review standards of conduct, performance and ethics expected of registrants and prospective registrants; to issue guidance on these matters and to make arrangements to ensure that action is taken when the fitness to practise of a nurse or midwife is impaired by reason of misconduct, lack of competence or ill-health (articles 21 and 22). Part V sets out the procedure to be followed in investigating whether the fitness to practise of a registrant is impaired. Preliminary consideration may be given by Screeners and the Investigating Committee (articles 22 to 24 and 26) and if it appears that there is a case to answer the matter will be considered by the Conduct and Competence Committee or the Health Committee (article 29). There is also provision to investigate whether an entry on the register has been fraudulently procured or incorrectly made and for the Investigating Committee to take action if it has (article 26(7)). Orders and decisions of the Practice Committees may be reviewed (articles 26(12) and 30). The Committees may, where they consider it to be in the public interest or in the interest of the registrant concerned, make interim orders to take effect before a final decision is given in a case or pending an appeal (article 31). Rules are to be made for the procedure to be followed by the Committees and the Council in considering cases referred to them (article 32(2), relevant parts of which are applied to the Investigating Committee and the Council by articles 26 and 37 respectively). A person who has been struck off the register may apply to be restored to it and article 33 sets out the procedure to be followed and the circumstances in which the application may be granted. The Council shall appoint legal assessors (article 34) and may appoint medical and registrant assessors (articles 35 and 36) to assist those considering, amongst others, registration and fitness to practise issues. Part VI relates to appeals. A person may appeal to the Council from a decision of the Registrar concerning registration and article 37 sets out the procedure to be followed. Article 38 provides that appeals from decisions of the Health Committee or Conduct and Competence Committee are to the High Court (or, in Scotland, the Court of Session), and, from the Investigating Committee or Council, to the county court (or, in Scotland, the sheriff). Part VII and Schedule 3 apply to qualifications to be recognised under EC law as it applies in the States which are party to the agreement on the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) and the Order implements the Directives on nursing and midwifery (Directives 77/452 and 77/453—nurses—and 80/154 and 80/155—midwives—as amended). Part VIII relates to the Midwifery Committee whose role is to advise the Council on matters which affect midwifery. It provides for rules to be made regulating midwifery practice and for supervision of midwives by local supervising authorities. Part IX provides for certain actions to be offences. These are, principally, where a person falsely represents himself as being registered or having professional qualifications or uses a title to which he is not entitled; or, although not falling within the specified categories, attends a woman in childbirth. Part X contains provisions on miscellaneous matters such as consultation by the Council before it makes rules (article 47); approval by the Privy Council of rules and the procedure which applies (articles 47 and 48); the powers of the Privy Council to take action if it considers that the Council has failed to perform its functions (article 49) and to hold an inquiry into any matter connected with the exercise by the Council of its functions (article 53). The Council is required to publish annual reports (article 50) and to keep proper accounts (article 52). Schedule 1 provides for the constitution of the elected Council; provisions relating to the election scheme and the procedure of the Council and statutory committees. Article 54 and Schedule 2 relate to transitional provisions including the conduct of business before an elected Council comes into being. Schedule 4 relates to interpretation. Consequential amendments to primary legislation are set out in Schedule 5.

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 “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