Any person who — a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified…

Q: Is paragraph 5 of SCHEDULE 3 of The Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (recklessly, wilfully, with intent to).

paragraph 5 of SCHEDULE 3 of The Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004

Status not determined
Requires proof of a state of mind
International sanctions, export control and trade restrictions

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

5 Any person who —
a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within
a reasonable time) to comply with any request made under this Schedule by any person who is empowered to make it; or
b furnishes any information or produces any document which to his knowledge is false in
a material particular, or recklessly furnishes any document or information which is false in
a material particular, to such
a person in response to such
a request; or
c otherwise wilfully obstructs any person in the exercise of his powers under this Schedule; or
d with intent to evade the provisions of this Schedule, destroys, mutilates, defaces, secretes or removes any document, shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element: Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof: An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (recklessly, wilfully, with intent to).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: wilfully, with intent to, recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

5 Any person who — a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within a reasonable time) to comply with any request made under this Schedule by any person who is empowered to make it; or b furnishes any information or produc

What would breach paragraph 5 of SCHEDULE 3?

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.

Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004.
Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Not determined
Maximum fine: Not determined
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2014
Covers fraud, false accounting, bribery and money laundering, including offences committed by organisations.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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 February 2004
In force from: 13 February 2004
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 Order applies to each of the territories specified in Schedule 1. It gives effect to Resolution 1521, adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations on 22nd December 2003, which prohibits the delivery or supply of arms and related matériel, the provision of assistance, advice and training related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of arms and related matériel, and bans the import of diamonds and round logs or timber products from Liberia, and to a Common Position adopted by the Council of the European Union on 10th February 2004 which adopted the measures in Resolution 1521 and applied additional related measures to Liberia. It replaces The Liberia (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/ 946), and The Liberia (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (No. 2) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/1867 as amended by S.I. 2003/1876), which ceased to have effect by virtue of the cancellation of the relevant parts of United Nations Security Council resolution 1343 of 7th March 2001 and resolution 1478 of 6th May 2003.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Any person who has done any act under the authority of a licence granted by the Governor under this Order…article 10
If for the purposes of obtaining any licence under this Order any person makes any statement, or furnishes…article 10(1)
Any person who has done any act under the authority of a licence granted by the Governor under this Order…article 10(2)
Declaration as to goods: powers of searcharticle 11(3)
Declaration as to goods: powers of searcharticle 11(4)
Provisions supplementary to articles 12 to 14article 15(3)
Supply of restricted goodsarticle 3(1)
Exportation of restricted goods to Liberiaarticle 4(3)
Provision of assistance, advice or training related to restricted goodsarticle 5
Importation of rough diamonds from Liberiaarticle 6(2)
Importation of round logs and timber products from Liberiaarticle 7(2)
Use of ships, aircraft and vehicles: restricted goodsarticle 8(3)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
International sanctions, export control and trade restrictionsOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2004