UK Offence Report

Prohibition of unlicensed provision of services

regulation 5(1) of The Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 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

1 Where a person is a railway undertaking to which these Regulations apply, that person shall not provide a train service in Great Britain unless he is authorised to do so by a European licence which is appropriate for that train service, and any person who provides such a service without such a licence shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 5(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person provides such a service without such a licence.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
1 November 2005
In force from
28 November 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 95/18/EC dated 19th June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings, as amended by two further Directives (“the amended 1995 Directive”). These are Directive 2001/13/EC dated 26th February 2001, and Directive 2004/49/EC dated 29th April 2004, both being of the European Parliament and the Council. The Regulations do not apply to Northern Ireland. The provision of train services without having a European licence is made a criminal offence (regulation 5). The Office of Rail Regulation (“ORR”) is appointed as the body to issue European licences (regulation 6). Applicants for such licences must satisfy requirements as to good repute, professional competence, financial fitness and insurance cover for civil liabilities (regulation 6 and Schedule 2). Such licences are valid as long as the licence holder complies with the requirements referred to in Schedule 2 and the requirements to submit the licence for review or approval (regulation 7 ). The licence is subject to monitoring and review by the ORR, who may suspend or revoke such licences in certain circumstances (regulation 8). The licensing regime established by the Railways Act 1993 is amended to take account of the new licensing regime established by these Regulations (regulations 9 to 14). In addition to requiring a European licence, railway undertakings providing services in Great Britain will require a Statement of National Regulatory Provisions (a “SNRP”) (regulation 9). One or more conditions will be included in a SNRP by the ORR, but these conditions must be compatible with Community law and must not be discriminatory (regulation 11). SNRPs may be modified by consent (regulation 13). Provision is made for the offence of making a false statement (regulation 15), and for offences by bodies corporate and Scottish partnerships (regulation 16). Certain provisions of the Railways Act 1993 (“the 1993 Act”) and of other legislation are amended so as to include references to European licences (Schedule 1). These include provisions relating to railway administration orders, the duty to furnish information, and byelaw making powers. Some statutory provisions are to have effect in relation to SNRPs, subject to some modifications (regulation 15 and Schedule 3). These include provisions relating to modification references to the Competition Commission and orders for securing compliance. Some statutory provisions relating to the investigation by the Rail Passengers' Council or the London Transport Users' Committee of possible contraventions of conditions are to have effect in relation to holders of European licences and possible contraventions of SNRPs held by them (regulations 17 and 19). Transitional provisions are made in relation to existing licences and licence exemptions (regulation 20 and Schedule 4). Copies of templates published by the ORR and referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from the ORR at 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London EC1N 2TQ. They may also be accessed online at www.rail-reg.gov.uk. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR. A copy has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament. A copy of the Transposition Note is also available from the Department for Transport. Copies of the Regulatory Impact Assessment and of the Transposition Note may also be accessed on the HMSO website www.opsi.gov.uk.

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 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