Protection from arbitrary arrest or detention

article 6(1) of The Montserrat Constitution Order 2010

Status not determined
Strict liability
TV licensing, fare evasion and school attendance

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 No person shall be deprived of his or her personal liberty save in any of the following cases where reasonably required and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law— a in execution of the sentence or order of a court, whether established for Montserrat or some other country, in respect of a criminal offence of which he or she has been convicted or in consequence of his or her unfitness to plead to a criminal charge; b in execution of the order of a court punishing him or her for contempt of that court or of another court; c in execution of the order of a court made in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation imposed on him or her by law; d for the purpose of bringing him or her before a court in execution of the lawful order of a court; e on reasonable suspicion that he or she has committed, is committing or is about to commit a criminal offence; f in the case of a minor, under the order of a court or with the consent of his or her parent or guardian, for the purpose of his or her education or welfare; g for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious or contagious disease; h in the case of a person who is, or is reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or a vagrant, for the purpose of his or her care or treatment or the protection of the community; i for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of that person into Montserrat or for the purpose of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal from Montserrat of that person or the taking of proceedings relating thereto.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 6(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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Montserrat Constitution Order 2010.

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.

Sentencing children and young people: definitive guideline Youth courts and all courts sentencing those under 18 · in force from 1 June 2017
Applies whenever the defendant is under 18, whatever the offence.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 13 October 2010
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 Order establishes a new Constitution for Montserrat, to replace the Constitution of 1989. The new Constitution sets out fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual and provisions for their enforcement. It provides for a Governor as Her Majesty’s representative in Montserrat, and for a Premier and other Ministers who form a Cabinet together with the Financial Secretary and the Attorney-General. It provides for an elected Legislative Assembly, which together with Her Majesty forms the Legislature. The High Court and Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court continue to have jurisdiction as superior courts in Montserrat, and provision is made for the establishment of subordinate courts. A new National Advisory Council is established to advise on some of the Governor’s functions, and the office of Director of Public Prosecutions and an Electoral Commission are established for the first time. Provision is also made for the public service, public finance including the independent audit of public accounts, and for standards in public life including the establishment of a Complaints Commission.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Protection from arbitrary arrest or detentionarticle 6(1)(e)
Penalty for unauthorised persons sitting or votingarticle 73(1)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Montserrat Constitution Order 2010 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
TV licensing, fare evasion and school attendanceOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2010