UK Offence Report

General modifying provisions applicable to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia

article 3(a) of The Judicial Proceedings in Specified Overseas Territories (Restrictive Measures) Order 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

a the words “Any person who commits an offence” are replaced by the following words: “Any person 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 3(a)?

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 Judicial Proceedings in Specified Overseas Territories (Restrictive Measures) Order 2009.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months

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
8 April 2009
In force from
30 April 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order amends certain Orders applying to the Overseas Territories relating to restrictive measures adopted by the United Nations and the European Union, and related Orders made under the Export Control Act 2002 applying to the Territories. The penalties and offences provisions of the Orders are modified by this Order in relation to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and in relation to the Falklands Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, Saint Helena and Dependencies, the British Indian Ocean Territory, and the Pitcairn Islands to reflect the current constitution and procedures, including sentencing powers, of the judicial authorities in these territories. The effect of the modifications is to make available to the Resident Judge’s Court in the Sovereign Base Areas, and the Magistrate’s Court in the Falkland Islands and other territories specified in article 1(2)(b), the higher penalties applicable to conviction on indictment when sentencing. Article 1 provides for citation, commencement and extent. Apart from this article, which extends to all the specified territories, the remainder of the Order extends to specific territories so far as the instruments in Schedule 1 extend to those territories, and so far as any modification in the remainder of the Order applies to them. Article 2 provides a formula whereby the modifications are effected. The instruments to be modified are listed in Schedule 1. Under each instrument are listed in column 1 the provisions of that instrument which are to be modified by the modifying or supplementary provision in the corresponding entry in column 2. By this means, article 2(2) applies the general modifying provisions set out in article 3 in relation to the Sovereign Base Areas. Article 2(3) applies the general supplementary provision set out in article 4 in relation to the territories specified in article 1(2)(b). Article 3 contains the general modifying provisions referred to in article 2(2) which are applicable to the Sovereign Base Areas. Article 4 contains the general supplementing provision applicable to the territories specified in Article 1(2)(b). Article 5 contains specific modifying provisions to a number of instruments in relation to the Sovereign Base Areas. Schedule 1 contains the instruments the specified provisions of which are to be read as modified by article 2. Schedule 2 consists of the modified text to be substituted in accordance with article 5(8). A full regulatory 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