UK Offence Report

8 Any person who contravenes byelaw 4, 6 or 7 commits an offence.

section 8 of The Atomic Weapons Establishment Blacknest Byelaws 2010

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

8 Any person who contravenes byelaw 4, 6 or 7 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 section 8?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes byelaw 4, 6 or 7.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Atomic Weapons Establishment Blacknest Byelaws 2010, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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.

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
11 October 2010
In force from
11 February 2011
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 Byelaws) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

Part II of the Military Lands Act 1892 (c.43) provides for the making of byelaws for regulating the use of land held for military purposes, and for securing the safety of the public where public use of that land is permitted and for the government of that land when so used by the public. These byelaws regulate the area of land known as the Atomic Weapons Establishment Blacknest and held under title number BK383872 registered at Gloucester District Land Registry, Twyver House, Bruton Way, Gloucester, GL1 1DQ. The area of land has been divided into two areas for the purposes of these byelaws, namely the Protected Area and the Controlled Area. Public access is only permitted in the Controlled Area. A copy of these byelaws and the map showing the Protected Area and Controlled Area to which these byelaws apply may be inspected on the Ministry of Defence web site http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/De/WhatWeDo/Byelaws. Copies have also been deposited with Tadley Library, 42 – 44 Mulfords Hill, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3JE and Berkshire Record Office, 9 Coley Avenue, Reading, RG1 6AF and can be inspected on signboards erected locally. Copies may also be obtained from the Librarian, Defence Estates, Kingston Road, Sutton Coldfield B75 7RL. By section 17(2) of the Military Lands Act 1892 any person who commits an offence against any byelaw made under the Act, is liable, on conviction before a court of summary jurisdiction, to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. At the time of printing the maximum fine on level 2 is five hundred pounds (£500). Any person seeking a permission under byelaw 9(1)(b) should apply in writing to the Byelaws Appointed Person, MOD, Room 2060, Building F6.1, AWE Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4PR.

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