UK Offence Report

Duty not to disclose contents of transaction reports

paragraph 71Z4(5) of SCHEDULE 1 of The Electoral Administration Act 2006 (Regulation of Loans etc: Northern Ireland) Order 2008

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 A person who contravenes subsection (1) is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 paragraph 71Z4(5) of SCHEDULE 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 contravenes subsection (1).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (Regulation of Loans etc: Northern Ireland) Order 2008, 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
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.

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
14 May 2008
In force from
Not determined
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.

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c.41)(“the 2000 Act”) makes provision about loans to parties registered in the register of political parties in Northern Ireland in Part 4A of, and Schedules 6A and 7A to, that Act (as inserted by section 61 of, and Part 6 of Schedule 1 to, the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c.22)(“the EA Act”)). Section 63 of the EA Act provides the Secretary of State with an order making power to make modifications to the loans regime as it applies in Northern Ireland in a way which corresponds to, or is similar to, any provisions made in the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (c.33)(“the 2006 Act”) relating to the donations regime. The donations regime in Part 4 of the 2000 Act applies to Northern Ireland. However, the effect of sections 71A and 71B of the 2000 Act, as inserted by section 12 of the 2006 Act, is to enable parties registered in the Northern Ireland register, individuals and members associations to accept donations from Irish citizens and Irish bodies which meet prescribed conditions. This is in recognition of the special place which Ireland occupies in the political life of Northern Ireland. Until 31st October 2010 the details of donation reports provided by parties registered in the Northern Ireland register, individuals and members associations will not be made public in the light of concern that donors would not want their details to be made public because of the potential for intimidation. Section 14 of, and Schedule 1 to, the 2006 Act modify the 2000 Act to place a duty on the Electoral Commission (“the Commission”) to verify the information contained in such donation reports during this period. Article 3 of this Order inserts new sections 71Z, 71Z1 and 71Z2 in the 2000 Act. These sections make equivalent provision in relation to loans to that made in relation to donations by sections 71A to 71C of the 2000 Act. New section 71Z specifies the “Northern Ireland participants” who are able to enter into regulated and controlled transactions. New section 71Z1 provides for two additional categories of authorised participants in respect of Northern Ireland participants: citizens of Ireland and prescribed Irish bodies. These authorised participants will have to meet any conditions which may be prescribed in order to be able to enter into a regulated or controlled transaction involving a Northern Ireland participant. New section 71Z2 prevents Northern Ireland parties from making loans to parties or regulated participants in Great Britain. Article 5 provides that the modifications of the 2000 Act set out in Schedule 1 to the Order apply to Northern Ireland participants during the “prescribed period”. The prescribed period is initially from 1st July 2008 until 31st October 2010, but article 5(3) gives the Secretary of State power to extend it by order for up to two years at a time. The Secretary of State may not make an order under article 5(3) unless he is making an order under section 14 of the 2006 Act at the same time. After the prescribed period has expired, the 2000 Act provisions will apply in Northern Ireland without modification. Article 6 gives the Secretary of State power to make an order modifying legislation connected with the Northern Ireland participants. The power may only be used after consultation with the Commission and any order made under this power is subject to the draft affirmative procedure in both Houses of Parliament. Schedule 1 to this Order sets out the modifications to the 2000 Act which govern how the Commission is to operate in relation to transaction reports made by Northern Ireland participants during the prescribed period. New section 71Z3 places a duty on the Commission to verify information contain in transaction reports submitted by Northern Ireland participants. The steps that the Commission must take in this regard will be prescribed in an Order made by the Secretary of State. New section 71Z4 places a duty of confidentiality on the Commission in relation to information contained in transaction reports from Northern Ireland participants. A member or employee of the Commission may disclose information in such reports only in certain exceptional circumstances. The disclosure of information contained in transaction reports and which is disclosed other than in these circumstances constitutes an offence (section 71Z4(5)). Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 provides for the penalties which attach to this offence. Paragraph 3 modifies section 149 of the 2000 Act to ensure that the registers of transaction reports kept by the Commission are not made public during the prescribed period.

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.

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