UK Offence Report

Offences relating to applications for postal and proxy votes

regulation 12A(1) of The European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (revoked)

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 A person commits an offence if he—

a engages in an act specified in paragraph (2) at

a European Parliamentary election, and

b intends, by doing so, to deprive another of an opportunity to vote or to make for himself or another

a gain of

a vote to which he or the other is not otherwise entitled or

a gain of money or property.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 12A(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.

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
26 March 2009
In force from
Not determined
Extent
N.I.

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.

The European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 amend the European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1267) (“the 2004 Regulations”), which set out in full how European Parliamentary elections are to be conducted. The 2004 Regulations correspond to provisions of the Representation of the People Acts of 1983 and 1985 and regulations made under them, which they apply subject to modification. The 2009 Regulations apply for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections the changes to electoral procedures made by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”) and the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (“the Miscellaneous Provisions Act”). They also apply the amendments made for the purposes of implementing the 2006 Act’s provisions by the Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/1741) (“the 2008 Regulations”) and other amendments to subordinate legislation made since the 2004 Regulations were made. The amendments made to the 2004 Regulations reflect the changes made by the 2006 Act to the Representation of the People Act 1983 (“the 1983 Act”). Regulation 11 of these Regulations amends regulation 16 of the 2004 Regulations to bring the provisions relating to the payments to and by the returning officer at European Parliamentary elections into line with provision made at parliamentary elections by section 29 of the 2006 Act. Regulation 28 amends the 2004 Regulations so that the definition of “election expenses” contained in the 2004 Regulations mirrors that contained in section 90ZA of and Schedule 4A to the 1983 Act (as inserted by section 27 of the 2006 Act). New regulation 111A of the 2004 Regulations, as inserted by regulation 37, makes provision which is equivalent to section 199B of the 1983 Act (translations etc. of certain documents) as inserted by section 36 of the 2006 Act. Schedule 1 to the Regulations replaces the European Parliamentary elections rules in Schedule 1 to the 2004 Regulations. Those rules apply with modifications and exceptions the Parliamentary elections rules set out in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act. In particular they make provision for the single transferable vote form of proportional representation in European elections in the Northern Ireland electoral region. The European Parliamentary elections rules as substituted include with modifications the amendments to the Parliamentary elections rules made by the 2006 Act and the Miscellaneous Provisions Act. Particular changes that have been made to reflect these modifications are mentioned below. The rules reflect new security measures introduced by the 2006 Act. Ballot papers must contain a security marking (the official mark) and a unique identifying mark. Counterfoils on ballot papers are replaced by corresponding number lists. The rules reflect changes made as to persons who may be admitted to polling stations and the count to observe elections. Amendments are made in consequence of the provisions in section 13BA of the 1983 Act as inserted by section 6 of the Miscellaneous Provisions Act. Amendments are made to provide for the transmission of information to a presiding officer about alterations to the electoral register taking place on the day of the poll. The provisions that apply when a candidate dies prior to being returned as an MEP have been changed to reflect changes made to the Parliamentary elections rules made by section 24 of the 2006 Act. These now comprise a new part 6. Additional provision has been made for the public inspection of certain electoral documents and including the right to inspect or obtain copies of the marked copies of the various electoral registers and lists marked during the election. These provisions reflect similar provisions made in the 2008 Regulations and comprise a new part 7. Schedule 2 to these Regulations substitutes a new Schedule 2 to the 2004 Regulations (absent voting). Minor changes have been made to this Schedule to reflect the introduction of corresponding number lists and modifications made to the absent voter provisions applying at Parliamentary elections in the 2008 Regulations. Schedule 3 to these Regulations inserts a new Schedule 5A (election expenses) in the 2004 Regulations. It follows the changes to election expenses detailed above and reflects the changes made to the 1983 Act by section 27 of the 2006 Act. Schedule 4 to these Regulations substitutes a new Schedule 6 (combined polls) to the 2004 Regulations. Again only minor changes have been made to this Schedule to reflect the changed European Parliamentary elections rules numbering and to make appropriate provision for the introduction of corresponding number lists, late registration and the changes made to provisions on death of candidates. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 “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