UK Offence Report

Use of goods vehicle without Community licence

regulation 4 of The Goods Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011

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

4 A person who uses

a vehicle in Great Britain in contravention of Article

3 of Regulation 1072/2009 (requirement to possess

a Community licence) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 4?

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 uses a vehicle in Great Britain in contravention of Article 3 of Regulation 1072/2009 (requirement to possess a Community licence).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Goods Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
1 November 2011
In force from
4 December 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations revoke and replace the Regulations specified in regulation 2. They give effect to aspects of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 of 21 October 2009 (“Regulation 1072/2009”), which makes provision for a Community licence allowing goods vehicles access to the market in the carriage of goods by road between Member States and for a driver attestation where the driver is a third country national. Regulation 1072/2009, which is directly applicable in Member States, recasts existing European Regulations and governs the conditions for the issue and use of Community licences and driver attestations. It prescribes the form of the Community licence (Article 4(4) and Annexes I and II) and driver attestation (Article 5(3) and Annexes I and III), and the period of validity for each (Articles 4(2) and 5(7) respectively). Regulation 6 confers entitlement to a Community licence on the basis of the relevant Great Britain licence. It also provides that existing Community authorisations and driver attestations which meet certain conditions are to be treated as Community licences and driver attestations respectively for the purposes of Regulation 1072/2009 and of these Regulations. The competent authorities for the purposes of these Regulations and Regulation 1072/2009 are the Secretary of State and traffic commissioners, as provided for in regulation 5. These Regulations establish an offence of using a goods vehicle without a Community licence, punishable on summary conviction by a fine up to level 4 on the standard scale (regulation 4). They provide stopping officers with a power to stop for the purpose of checks in relation to regulation 4 (regulation 13); and authorised inspecting officers are designated for the purpose of carrying out any necessary inspections (regulation 11). Provision is also made for administrative penalties in certain circumstances – in particular the refusal to issue and the withdrawal of documents (regulation 7). The Regulations confer rights of appeal against administrative penalties (regulations 8 to 10). Regulation 12 requires the holder of a Community licence or driver attestation to supply information in certain circumstances, and provides that such documents may be withdrawn in the event of failure to comply. Provision is made for the automatic transfer of a Community licence following the death, bankruptcy or incapacity of the holder (regulation 14) and for offences which may be committed by a body corporate (regulation 15). In addition provision is made for the amendment of the Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972, so that an authorised inspecting officer may prohibit the driving of a vehicle on the road in certain circumstances (regulation 16). Regulation 17 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations, and to publish a report within 5 years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke or to amend them. A full impact assessment of the effect that Regulation 1072/2009 (along with two other related EU Road Transport Regulations) will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector, and a transposition note for Regulation 1072/2009, are available from the Operator Licensing and Roadworthiness Division at the Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR. They are published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk. Regulation 1072/2009 can be viewed on the EUR-Lex website at www.eur-lex.europa.eu.

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 is “guilty of 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