UK Offence Report

31 Subject to Article 5(2) and (5) and paragraph 32 below, a person commits an offence if, on or after the…

SCHEDULE of The Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) Regulations 2002 (revoked)

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

31 Subject to Article 5(2) and (5) and paragraph 32 below, a person commits an offence if, on or after the commencement date, he uses, or causes or permits another person to use, hydrochlorofluorocarbons otherwise than in a manner which does not give rise to an offence under any of paragraphs 27 to 30 above.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 SCHEDULE?

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 Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) Regulations 2002.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 170 of the 1979 Act.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
8 March 2002
In force from
31 March 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.

These Regulations, which apply to England, Wales and Scotland and, in so far as they relate to importation, to Northern Ireland, make provision in relation to Council Regulation (EC) No. 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer, as amended by Council Regulations (EC) 2038/2000 and 2039/2000, (referred to in these Regulations and the following paragraphs of this note as “the principal Regulation”). The principal Regulation provides for a system that controls— a the production, placing on the market and use of, b trade in, and c emission of certain substances (“controlled substances”) that deplete the ozone layer. Member States are required to deal with a number of matters by means of their domestic legislation. With the exception of regulations 4, 7, 8 and 14, these Regulations fulfil this requirement. In particular, they— i designate the Secretary of State as the competent authority for the purposes of the principal Regulation in its application to England, Wales and Scotland and, in relation to controls on importation, in its application to Northern Ireland (regulation 3, which gives effect to Article 6(1) and other provisions of the principal Regulation that refer to the competent authority of a Member State), ii prohibit and restrict importation, landing and unloading of certain controlled substances, new substances, equipment and products (regulation 5, which gives effect to Articles 6, 8 and so much of Article 22 as relates to the release of new substances for free circulation in the Community and inward processing). iii require persons having control of the controlled substances mentioned in Articles 16 and 17 of the principal Regulation to comply with those provisions (regulation 6). iv contain enforcement powers (regulations 9 and 10), and v set out offences and penalties in relation to failures to comply with the principal Regulation or these Regulations (regulations 11 to 13 and the Schedule). Subject to the exceptions noted below, Parts I, II and III of the Schedule give effect to Article 21 of the principal Regulation in relation to breaches of Articles 3, 4 and 5, respectively. (Parts II and III do not deal with breaches of so much of paragraph (6) of Article 4 and paragraph (4) of Article 5 as relates to importation, because offences and penalties relating to that matter are provided for in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (“the 1979 Act”).) Part IV of the Schedule gives effect to Article 21 in relation to breaches of Article 7. Part V of the Schedule gives effect to Article 21 in relation to breaches of so much of Article 22 as relates to the production, placing on the market and use of new substances. Contraventions of the prohibitions imposed by Article 11 (export of controlled substances or products containing controlled substances) are enforceable under section 68 of the 1979 Act. Regulations 4 and 8 permit the Secretary of State to require controlled substances, new substances, equipment or products that have been unlawfully imported, landed or unloaded to be disposed of harmlessly or removed from England, Wales and Scotland and, to the extent that they have been imported, from Northern Ireland. Regulation 7 enables customs officers to require proof of lawful import or export, and to detain controlled substances, products and equipment until such proof has been furnished. In the absence of such proof, the substance, product or equipment is liable to forfeiture. Regulation 14 revokes the Environmental Protection (Non-Refillable Refrigerant Containers) Regulations 1994, which are superseded by these Regulations. It also revokes the Environmental Protection (Controls on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer) Regulations 1996, which made provision in relation to Council Regulation (EC) No. 3093/94 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (O.J. No. L.333, 22.12.1994, p.1). That Regulation is repealed by Article 23 of the principal Regulation. A regulatory impact assessment in respect of the Regulations may be obtained from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Global Atmosphere Division, Zone 3/A3, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament.

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