UK Offence Report

Cabotage without a Community licence or control document

regulation 9(1) of The Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 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 if the person— a uses a vehicle for the purpose of UK cabotage operations without a valid Community licence, or b causes or permits a vehicle to be so used.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
acting without the licence or authorisation required
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 9(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. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011.
  2. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  3. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

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 1073/2009 of 21 October 2009 (“Regulation 1073/2009”), which provides for a Community licence allowing buses and coaches access to the market in the carriage of passengers by road between Member States, a requirement for an authorisation for the purpose of carrying out regular services, and a requirement for control documents when carrying out occasional services. Regulation 1073/2009, which is directly applicable in Member States, recasts existing European Regulations and governs the conditions for the issue and use of Community licences and authorisations. It prescribes the form of the Community licence (Article 4(2) and Annexes I and II), that the Commission shall establish the format of authorisations (Article 6(4)), and the period of validity for both Community licences and authorisations (Articles 4(4) and 6(2) respectively). Regulation 6 confers entitlement to a Community licence on the basis of the relevant Great Britain licence. It also provides that existing Community licences and authorisations which meet certain conditions are to be treated as Community licences and authorisations respectively for the purposes of Regulation 1073/2009 and of these Regulations. The competent authorities for the purposes of these Regulations and Regulation 1073/2009 are the Secretary of State and traffic commissioners, as provided for in regulation 5. These Regulations establish various offences, punishable on summary conviction by a fine up to the level prescribed (regulations 4, 9 and 10). They provide stopping officers with a power to stop vehicles for the purpose of checks in relation to regulations 4 and 10 (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 (regulation 8). Regulation 12 requires the holder of a Community licence or authorisation 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 and an authorisation 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 or modification of other relevant legislation (regulations 16 to 19). Regulation 20 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 1073/2009 (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 1073/2009, are available from the Buses and Taxis 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 1073/2009 can be viewed on the EUR-Lex website at www.eur-lex.europa.eu.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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