Offences related to restrictions on investment in certain enterprises

article 18(1) of The Iran (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2012 (revoked)

• Status not determined
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Either way
• International sanctions, export control and trade restrictions

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 to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly makes an investment through transactions referred to in article 17(1)(a), (b) or (c) in an Iranian person, entity or body engaged in the manufacture of goods or technology listed in Annex III to the Council Regulation.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (knowingly).

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: knowingly.

What would breach article 18(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 Iran (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2012.
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

Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court

Maximum fine

£5,000

Maximum prison (summary)

6 months

Maximum prison (on indictment)

2 years

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.

• Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales

  How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.

• Fraud, bribery and money laundering offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2014

  Covers fraud, false accounting, bribery and money laundering, including offences committed by organisations.

• Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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

10 July 2012

In force from

12 July 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order gives effect in specified Overseas Territories to the measures adopted by the European Union in Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Council Decision 2012/35/CFSP, and implemented by Council Regulation (EU) No. 267/2012 (the Regulation), which incorporated the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1929 (2010), and applied additional restrictive measures in relation to Iran’s nuclear proliferation and missile technology programmes. The main provisions of the Council Decision and Regulation are: a prohibition on the supply of arms to, or purchase of arms from, Iran; a prohibition on the sale or supply of goods and technology which could contribute to Iran’s proliferation activities; a prohibition on providing assistance or financing in relation to prohibited goods; a prohibition on the importation or transportation of oil from Iran; a prohibition on the importation or transportation of petrochemical products from Iran; a prohibition on financing any Iranian person or entity engaged in certain nuclear-related activities; a prohibition on supplying equipment to any Iranian person or for use in Iran for the exploration and production of oil or gas, or for use in the petrochemical industry in Iran; a prohibition on the sale or purchase of gold, precious metals or diamonds to or from Iran; a prohibition on the supply of newly printed banknotes and coins to Iran; restrictions on financial transactions to or from Iranian persons or entities; a prohibition on the purchase of Iranian bonds. This Order revokes the Iran (United Nations Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2007 and the Iran (United Nations Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2007.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a sells, supplies, transfers…article 10(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a sells, supplies, transfers…article 11(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a sells, supplies, transfers…article 12(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly— a imports crude oil or…article 13(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a imports petrochemical…article 14(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a sells, supplies, transfers…article 15(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowinglysells, supplies, transfers or…article 16
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly — a grants any financial loan or…article 17(1)
• A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly accepts or approves, by…article 19(1)
• Circumvention of prohibitions in articles 4 to 19article 20
• Customs powers to demand evidence of destination of prohibited goodsarticle 21(3)
• Declaration as to goods: powers of searcharticle 22(2)

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

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• The Iran (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2012 (revoked) Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• International sanctions, export control and trade restrictionsOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 2012