UK Offence Report

Exportation of restricted goods to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

article 4(3) of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2005

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

3 Any person knowingly concerned in the exportation or attempted exportation of such goods 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
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 (knowingly).

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: knowingly.

What would breach article 4(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.

  1. Moving the goods across the border under the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2005 without the licence the instrument requires.
  2. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  3. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

Penalty

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

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
19 July 2005
In force from
21 July 2005
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order amends the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2003. Article 4 of the 2003 Order is replaced with a provision which prohibits the exportation of restricted goods to enable their seizure and forfeiture but which does not overlap with Article 3 of that Order, which makes it an offence for a person knowingly to export restricted goods (without the authority of a licence) from the Territory to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This Order also gives effect to the precise wording of the arms embargo wording in Common Position 2005/440 adopted by the Council of the European Union on 13 June 2005 to integrate the arms embargo imposed by Common Position 2002/829 with new measures imposed following the adoption of Resolution 1596 by the Security Council of the United Nations on 18 April 2005. This Order amends Article 5 of the 2003 Order to make it clear that it is prohibited to provide assistance, advice or training related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of arms and related matériel and that the prohibition also applies where advice, assistance or training is provided to any person, entity or body in, or for use in, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The opportunity has also been taken to include in the 2003 Order a definition of “assistance” and to update the definition of restricted goods to refer to the Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance (Control) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004.

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”
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