UK Offence Report

Circumventing provisions etc.

regulation 18 of The Iran (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2010

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

18 A person commits an offence who intentionally participates in activities knowing that the object or effect of them is (whether directly or indirectly)— a to circumvent any of the prohibitions in regulations 3 to 7, 10 and 12 to 17, or b to enable or facilitate the contravention of any such prohibition.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowing that).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally, knowing that.

What would breach regulation 18?

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 Iran (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2010, 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
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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Iran (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2012 (revoked)
Revoked on
26 March 2012
Made
9 December 2010
In force from
11 December 2010
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision relating to the enforcement of Council Regulation (EU) No. 961/2010 of 25th October 2010 on restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Regulation (EC) No 423/2007 (OJ L 281, 27.10.10, p1) (“the Council Regulation”). The measures include the freezing of funds and economic resources of persons listed by the United Nations Security Council under UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1929 (2010) and by the Council of the European Union under Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP of 26th July 2010 (as amended), and ensuring that funds and economic resources are not made available to them or for their benefit. They also include broader financial sanctions measures. Regulation 2 defines designated persons as any person named in Annex VII or VIII to the Council Regulation (as amended from time to time). Annex VII includes those persons listed by the United Nations Security Council, and Annex VIII includes those persons listed by the Council of the European Union. Regulations 3 to 7 provide that it is an offence to deal with the funds or economic resources of a designated person, or to make funds or economic resources available directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of, a designated person. Regulation 8 provides for exceptions to the offences in the circumstances set out in the Council Regulation. Regulation 9 provides a licensing procedure to enable funds and economic resources to be exempted from the prohibitions. Regulation 10 provides that it is an offence to transfer funds to or from certain persons in or connected to Iran, if the transfers have not been notified or authorised in accordance with the Council Regulation. Regulation 11 sets out who must make a notification or apply for authorisation. Regulation 12 provides that offences are committed where a branch or subsidiary of an Iranian bank does not comply with the requirements of the Council Regulation to notify the Treasury of details of transfers of funds. Regulation 13 provides that it is an offence for a credit or financial institution to establish certain relationships with an Iranian bank, or to open a representative office or establish a branch in Iran. Regulation 14 provides that it is an offence to conclude an agreement for an Iranian bank relating to the creation of a representative office, branch or subsidiary in the European Union. Regulation 15 provides that an offence is committed if an Iranian bank acquires an ownership interest in a credit or financial institution. Regulation 16 provides that offences are committed if a person sells or purchases bonds to or from an Iranian person, provides brokering services to an Iranian person, or assists an Iranian person in the issue of bonds. Regulation 17 provides that an offence is committed if insurance or re-insurance is provided to Iranian persons. Regulation 18 provides that circumvention of the prohibitions in regulations 3 to 7, 10, and 12 to 17 is an offence. Regulations 19 to 22 contain provision about penalties, proceedings and who, in relation to bodies corporate and other bodies, may be prosecuted for an offence under the Regulations. Regulation 26 amends the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 so that an application to the High Court to set aside any decision of the Treasury under these Regulations is subject to the procedure set out in that Act and in Part 79 of the Civil Procedure Rules. Regulation 27 revokes the Regulations which currently make provision for penalties for contravention of the asset freezing measures contained in the Council Regulation. Regulation 28 provides that any licences which were issued under those revoked Regulations continue to have effect for the purposes of these Regulations. The Schedule makes provision for information gathering and information disclosure. A list of designated persons is available on the Internet at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/fin_sanctions_index.htm. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. Further information is available from the Asset Freezing Unit, HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ and on HM Treasury’s website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk).

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