UK Offence Report

Power to share information for enforcement purposes

regulation 10(4) of The Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade 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

4 A person who breaches paragraph (3) is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 10(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 breaches paragraph (3).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Regulations 2012.

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
25 January 2012
In force from
20 February 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, which apply in the United Kingdom, enforce Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community (OJ No L 347, 30.12.2005, p.1) (“the FLEGT Regulation”), and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1024/2008 (OJ No L 277, 18.10.2008, p.23) which lays down detailed measures for the implementation of the FLEGT Regulation. Regulations 2, 3, and 5 provide for designation of the competent authority and enforcing authorities. Sections 50 and 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c.2) prescribe offences for breach of importation restrictions, including in relation to timber products imported in breach of the restriction in the FLEGT Regulation. Enforcement powers for officers of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency are contained in that Act, and accordingly are not provided for in these Regulations. Where those offences are committed in connection with a breach of the restriction in the FLEGT Regulation, regulation 12 modifies the penalties prescribed by the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 so that the maximum period of imprisonment is 3 years. Regulations 6 and 7 confer enforcement powers on wildlife inspectors (persons authorised by the Secretary of State) and regulation 6 confers warrant powers on constables. Obstruction of a wildlife inspector is an offence (regulation 8), punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. Regulation 10 provides an information gateway for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and contains an offence for unlawful disclosure of information, also punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. Regulation 13 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. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business is available from www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.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 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