UK Offence Report

False representations

regulation 11(1) of The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2008

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 A person who makes any representation under Part 2 or 3 of these Regulations or under the Schedule so far as it relates to an appeal under Part 2 or 3, which is false in a material particular, and does so recklessly or knowing it to be false, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (knowing it to be, recklessly).

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: recklessly, knowing it to be.

What would breach regulation 11(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2008.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2008-03-31); 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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2013
Made
6 March 2008
In force from
31 March 2008
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations, which apply to Wales, make provision entitling a person who is or may be liable to pay a penalty charge in respect of a parking contravention, or who secures the release of a vehicle from an immobilisation device which has been fixed to it on account of such a contravention, to make representations to the enforcement authority regarding his liability for charges and to appeal to an adjudicator if his representations are not accepted. These Regulations should be read in conjunction with the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (General Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2008 (S.I.2008/614(W66) (“the General Provisions Regulations”), The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Representations and Appeals about Removed Vehicles) (Wales) Regulations 2008 (S.I.2008/615(W67) (“the Removed Vehicles Regulations”) and the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Penalty Charge Notices, Enforcement and Adjudication) (Wales) Regulations 2008 (S.I.2008/609) (“the Enforcement and Adjudication Regulations”). The Traffic Management Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) reserved certain aspects of the parking enforcement regime to the Lord Chancellor. Accordingly, these Regulations and the Enforcement and Adjudication Regulations are made by the Lord Chancellor and are thus subject to Parliamentary procedure. Part 1 contains preliminary provisions. Part 2 concerns representations and appeals against penalty charge notices and notices to owner given under the General Provisions Regulations and the Enforcement and Adjudication Regulations. Regulation 3 defines the scope of Part 2 and specifies the information to be given to the recipients of penalty charge notices and notices to owner. Regulation 4 confers on the recipient of a notice to owner or penalty charge notice given under regulation 6 of the Enforcement and Adjudication Regulations the right to make representations to the enforcement authority which served it. Regulations 5 and 6 set out the duties of an enforcement authority to which representations are made. Regulation 7 enables a person who has made representations under regulation 4 to appeal to an adjudicator against an enforcement authority’s rejection of his representations. Part 3 makes equivalent provision to Part 2 for representations and appeals in relation to vehicles which have been immobilised in accordance with the General Provisions Regulations. Regulation 8 confers, on the owner or person in charge of a vehicle who secures its release from an immobilisation device fixed in accordance with the General Provisions Regulations, a right to make representations to the enforcement authority and to appeal to an adjudicator, where those representations are rejected. The enforcement authority is required to inform the person securing the release of the vehicle of his rights in writing. The basis for making representations is specified in regulation 8(4) and (5). Regulation 9 sets out the duties of an enforcement authority to which representations are made and regulation 10 provides for an appeal to be made to an adjudicator where representations under regulation 9 are rejected. Part 4 relates to offences and procedure. Regulation 11 creates an offence of making false or reckless representations under these Regulations. Regulation 12 introduces the Schedule which makes detailed provision as to the procedure to be followed in adjudication proceedings, the service of documents in such proceedings and the requirements to keep a register. Otherwise the procedure is in the discretion of the adjudicator. A full Regulatory Impact Assessment and Explanatory Memorandum can be obtained from the Integrated Transport Unit, Transport, Planning and Administration Division, Transport Wales, Welsh Assembly Government, Crown Offices, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ or on the Welsh Assembly Government website at http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/buslegislation/bus/bus-legislation-sub/bus-legislation-sub-annulment.htm

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