UK Offence Report

Regulations to be treated as safety regulations within the meaning of the 1987 Act

regulation 8(2) of The Creosote (Prohibition on Use and Marketing) Regulations 2003 (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

2 Any person who contravenes regulation

4 or regulation

6 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or to

a fine not exceeding level

5 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 8(2)?

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 contravenes regulation 4 or regulation 6.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Creosote (Prohibition on Use and Marketing) Regulations 2003, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2003-06-30); 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
13 March 2003
In force from
30 June 2003
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 Commission Directive 2001/90/EC (OJ No. L283, 27.10.01, p. 41). The Regulations revoke the Environmental Protection (Controls on Injurious Substances) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/3244) other than regulation 6, which had previously provided for restrictions on the use and marketing of wood treated with the dangerous substances or preparations referred to below (regulation 2). The Regulations prohibit the use of creosote and creosote-related substances as set out in the Schedule (“the dangerous substances or preparations”) in the treatment of wood except for industrial of professional use (regulation 4). Wood so treated may not be supplied, however dangerous substances or preparations may be supplied if the requirements of regulation 5 are complied with. Wood treated with the dangerous substances or preparations in accordance with these Regulations may not be used in the situations specified in regulation 6, including inside any buildings, in toys and in playgrounds. Wood so treated before the Regulations come into force may be supplied for second-hand use (regulation 7), and their use is similarly restricted. A person who contravenes regulation 4 or regulation 6 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction with a maximum of three months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 8(2)). The penalty on summary conviction for a contravention of regulation 5, being an offence under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (c. 43), is a maximum of six months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both, by virtue of section 12(5) of that Act. The EINECS and CAS numbers identifying the dangerous substances or preparations in the Schedule are given respectively in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (OJ No. C146A, 15.6.90, p. 1) and the CAS Registry Handbook, ISSN 0093-058X. The latter may be inspected at the Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1V OBN. A full regulatory impact assessment report of the effect that these Regulations would have on the costs to business and a transposition note are freely available to the public from the Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry, 4th Floor, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET. Copies of the report have also been placed in the libraries 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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
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