UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 69(1) of The Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012

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 who contravenes regulation 13(2), 17 or 21 is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 69(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes regulation 13(2), 17 or 21.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
2 April 2012
In force from
30 April 2012
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 Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) Regulations 1995, as amended. In addition to some minor and drafting amendments the following changes are made. Regulation 2 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five 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 be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. Part 2 (regulations 9 to 23) regulates who in the United Kingdom is entitled to provide flight accommodation, and restricts how such provision is made. Regulation 9 requires an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) to be held by anyone in the United Kingdom (other than an aircraft operator) who makes available flight accommodation, unless they are exempt under regulation 10 or 11. The exemption applies to agents of an ATOL holder, persons acting as a member of an accredited body, airline ticket agents, those persons established in an EEA state other than the UK who is not a Flight-Only provider, a worker for an ATOL holder, the CAA, the trustees of the Air Travel Trust (acting in that capacity) and those exempted by the CAA under regulation 11. “Accredited body” and “airline ticket agent” are defined in regulations 4, 13 and 33. Regulation 10(f) also exempts a person who is making available flight accommodation as a component of a Flight-Plus, but this exemption will not come into force until 30th April 2019. Regulation 22 requires the CAA to publish a schedule of terms for written agency agreements which may be required to be included in any agency agreement between an ATOL holder and its agent. Part 3 (regulations 24 to 30) regulates the arrangement of a Flight-Plus; this term is defined in regulation 24 but in brief, it relates to where a flight out of or into the United Kingdom is made available, and living accommodation and car hire abroad are requested to be booked. A Flight-Plus arranger (defined in regulation 25) is liable to the consumer for the provision of the flight accommodation, living accommodation and self-drive car hire provided as part of a Flight-Plus. If prior to departure by the consumer, the Flight-Plus arranger becomes aware that any of these elements will not be provided, the Flight-Plus arranger must provide suitable alternatives at no extra cost to the consumer (regulation 26). If after departure the Flight-Plus arranger becomes aware that the flight will not be provided, the Flight-Plus arranger must provide the consumer at no extra cost suitable alternative transport back to the place of departure. In the case of living accommodation or self-drive car hire not being provided, the Flight-Plus arranger must provide the consumer at no extra cost with suitable alternative living accommodation or self-drive car hire, as appropriate (regulation 27). Where suitable alternative arrangements cannot be made, the Flight-Plus arranger must compensate the consumer (regulation 28). However, the Flight-Plus arranger is not liable unless the reason for the non-availability of the flight or living accommodation or self-drive car hire is due to the insolvency of any person concerned with its provision or the failure of the ATOL holder providing the flight accommodation (regulation 30). Part 4 (regulations 31 to 48) regulates the process for the CAA in dealing with applications, refusals and variations for ATOLs and accreditations as an accredited body. Regulations 32 and 34 specify circumstances where the CAA must or may refuse an ATOL or accreditation. Regulations 37 and 45 provide for expedited suspension of an ATOL or accreditation and regulations 38 and 46 provide for provisional variation of an ATOL or accreditation where the CAA believes such provisional variation is in the interests of consumers. The CAA is required to publish a schedule of ATOL standard terms and in granting an ATOL, the CAA may make an ATOL subject to one or more of the ATOL standard terms (regulation 40). The CAA is also required to publish a schedule of standard terms which may be made applicable to accredited bodies (regulation 48). Part 5 (regulations 49 to 66) regulates the process by which decisions on licensing are made by the CAA. Regulation 50 requires certain decisions to be made by a Member of the CAA, whilst other decisions may be made by a Member or an employee of the CAA. “Member” is defined in regulation 4. The process incorporates an opportunity for representations to be made by the person concerned (regulation 53) and for that person to make a request for a hearing (regulation 56). There is also provision for an expedited hearing for urgent cases (regulation 58) and hearings in private (regulation 63). CAA is required to publish decisions to revoke or suspend a licence or accreditation (regulation 55). Part 6 (regulations 67 and 68) provides for appeals to the county court, or in Scotland the sheriff court, from any decision of the CAA that a person is not a fit person to hold an ATOL, and for the transfer of an ATOL following the death of a sole holder of an ATOL. Part 7 (regulations 69 to 71) deals with offences and penalties. Regulation 69 specifies the offences and penalties and regulation 70 provides for a due diligence defence. Regulation 71 extends the time limit for prosecution to 12 months beginning with the date of the commission of the offence. Part 8 (regulation 72) makes amendments to the Civil Aviation (Contributions to the Air Travel Trust) Regulations 2007. Part 9 makes transitional and saving provision. Regulation 73 provides for an ATOL granted by the CAA under the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) Regulations 1995 to remain in force. Regulation 74 provides for supplying an ATOL Certificate “immediately” in regulation 18 to include posting or emailing within 3 days, until the end of September 2012. An impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations. The assessment has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament and can be found on the Department for Transport website (http://www.dft.gov.uk).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 is “guilty of an offence”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
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