UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

paragraph 1(1) of SCHEDULE of The Motor Cycles Etc. (Replacement of Catalytic Converters) Regulations 2009

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 If a person contravenes a regulation or paragraph specified in sub-paragraph (2), that person commits 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

against any person for any offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for that person (P) to show that all reasonable steps were taken and all due diligence exercised by P to avoid committing the offence. 2 Where in any proceedings for such an offence the defence provided by sub-paragraph (1) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was d

What would breach paragraph 1(1) of SCHEDULE?

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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Motor Cycles Etc. (Replacement of Catalytic Converters) Regulations 2009, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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 (2009-08-13); 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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 82521 — 82521 - Summary offences under Motor Cycles etc (Replacement of Catalytic Converters) Regulations 2009 (MOT). That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
14 July 2009
In force from
13 August 2009
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 impose requirements and prohibitions in relation to the supply and installation of replacement catalytic converters for vehicles subject to an EC certificate of conformity (within the meaning of the Motor Cycles Etc (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1999). Regulation 3 provides that the Regulations do not apply in relation to catalytic converters that are second-hand. Regulation 4 prohibits the supply of a catalytic converter for installation on a relevant vehicle unless certain requirements are met in connection with that converter. Regulation 5 prohibits the installation of a catalytic converter on a relevant vehicle unless certain requirements are met in connection with that converter. Regulation 6, together with the Schedule, provides for matters relating to offences and enforcement. European Directives may be downloaded without charge from the European Union Law Website (EURLEX): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm A Transposition Note may be obtained from the Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles Division of the Department for Transport, Zone 1/34, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR. The telephone number is 020 7944 2063. It may also be downloaded from the Department for Transport website and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk). An impact assessment has not been produced as no impact on the costs of business, the public sector, third sector organisations, regulators or consumers is foreseen.

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 “commits 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