UK Offence Report

Offences related to EU authorisations

article 3(1) of The Export Control (Belarus) and (Syria Amendment) Order 2011 (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 and may be arrested who, for the purpose of obtaining an EU authorisation—

a makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which to that person’s knowledge is false in

a material particular; or

b recklessly makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which is false in

a material particular.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (for the purpose of obtaining, recklessly).

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: recklessly, for the purpose of obtaining.

What would breach article 3(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Export Control (Belarus) and (Syria Amendment) Order 2011.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

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 August 2011
In force from
5 September 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision relating to the enforcement of certain restrictive measures against Belarus set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 (OJ L 134, 20.5.2006, p1) (“the Belarus Regulation”) as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 588/2011 (OJ L 161, 21.6.2011, p1) (“the amending Belarus Regulation”). The amending Belarus Regulation implements the sanctions imposed by Council Decision 2011/357/CFSP (OJ L 161, 21.6.2011, p25) amending Decision 2010/639/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Belarus. The measures include prohibitions on trade, technical assistance, financing, financial assistance or brokering in equipment which may be used for internal repression and restrictions on the provision of technical assistance, financing or financial assistance related to the goods and technology listed in the Common Military List of the European Union. Article 2 creates offences for contravention of the provisions of the Belarus Regulation referred to there. There are already offences relating to prohibited exportation of goods in sections 68 and 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (“the 1979 Act”) (1979 c. 2). Article 3 supplements the provisions of the Belarus Regulation that allow a competent authority to authorise or approve activities that are otherwise prohibited. Article 3(1) makes it an offence knowingly and recklessly to provide false information for the purpose of obtaining an authorisation or approval. Authorisations or approvals may be subject to requirements or conditions which continue even after the activity authorised has been carried out. Article 3(3) makes it an offence to fail to comply with such continuing requirements or conditions unless they were imposed after the activity was carried out or amended after that time in such a way as to give rise to non-compliance. Article 4(1) and (2) provide that circumvention of the prohibitions specified in Articles 1a and 1b of the Belarus Regulation is an offence. Article 5 provides that if a person acts in a way that would breach both this Order and the Export Control Order 2008 (“the 2008 Order”), that person only commits an offence under this Order. Article 6 sets out the penalties relating to the offences in the Order, and makes some consequential modifications to the 1979 Act to ensure that the offences covered by that Act are subject to the same penalties as those in the Order. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will enforce the provisions of the Order. Article 7 ensures that the same ancillary provisions as apply to their enforcement of customs and excise legislation apply in this context. In the United Kingdom, under the 2008 Order, a licence was already required to export military goods to Belarus and for a range of trading activities. Article 8 increases the level of control by making Belarus an “embargoed destination” for the purposes of the trade controls in the 2008 Order so that stricter controls apply, including restrictions on the activities of United Kingdom persons overseas (see article 20 of the 2008 Order). Article 9 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of articles 1 to 8 of this Order and publish a report within five years after it comes into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Order should remain as it is, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Order or to amend it. Article 10 corrects a cross-reference in article 7(2) of The Export Control (Syria and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1304) A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no or minimal impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies. A copy of the Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the Order on www.legislation.gov.uk. Further information is available from the Export Control Organisation, BIS, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET and on BIS website (www.bis.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