UK Offence Report

Penalties and enforcement

article 17(1) of The Oil Stocking Order 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 commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person—

a contravenes article 9; or

b contravenes article 11.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses has reason to believe; which element that governs was not determined; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person— a contravenes article 9; or b contravenes article 11.

What would breach article 17(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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Oil Stocking Order 2012, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. 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

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
12 November 2012
In force from
31 December 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 forms part of the implementation by the United Kingdom of Council Directive 2009/119/EC imposing an obligation on member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products (OJ No L 265, 9.10.2009, p.9) (“the 2009 Directive”). The other obligations of the 2009 Directive requiring transposition are implemented by section 6 of the Energy Act 1976 (c.76) (“the 1976 Act”) and directions given under that provision. Such a direction may require a producer, supplier or user of crude liquid petroleum or petroleum products to create and maintain stocks at a specified level. The United Kingdom stocks held by such persons are used by the United Kingdom to meet its obligations under the 2009 Directive to hold emergency stocks. Part 2 provides when stocks of crude liquid petroleum or petroleum products, as well as biofuels and additives, may be counted as United Kingdom stocks for the purpose of complying with a direction under section 6 of the 1976 Act. Under Part 3, article 7 restricts execution and other legal process against stocks designated by another member State as “specific stocks” under Article 9 of the 2009 Directive. Article 8 requires a person who has been given a direction under section 6 of the 1976 Act, to notify the Secretary of State if that person ceases to be a producer, supplier or user of crude liquid petroleum or petroleum products. The Secretary of State may extend the period of a direction which applies to such a person. Under Part 4, article 9 requires authorisation by the Secretary of State of arrangements under which stocks may be held in the United Kingdom on behalf of other member States. Article 10 requires that consent from the Secretary of State is required to move specific stock which is held in the United Kingdom and is commingled with other stock. Article 11 prevents any person from hindering an emergency stock release. Under Part 5, articles 12 and 13 set out the procedural requirements in respect of applications for the authorisation of arrangements. Schedule 1 sets out the details required in respect of applications. Article 14 provides for the revocation of authorisations. Part 6 prescribes the circumstances in which a person is to be treated as a substantial supplier to the United Kingdom market, being a person who can be directed to create stocks of crude liquid petroleum and petroleum products under section 6(2)(b) of the 1976 Act. Part 7 sets out criminal penalties in respect of the offences in this Order for which provision is made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (c.68). Schedule 2 makes provision for the enforcement of those penalties, replicating in relevant part the provisions in Schedule 2 to the 1976 Act which have effect with respect to the enforcement of that Act and provision made under it. Under Part 8, article 18 revokes the Petroleum Stocks Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/2162), the Petroleum Stocks (Amendment) Order 1982 (S.I. 1982/968) and the Petroleum Stocks (Amendment) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/909). Article 19 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of this Order and publish a report within five years after it comes into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Order should remain as it is, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Order or to amend it. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available. A transposition note setting out how the 2009 Directive is transposed into the law of the United Kingdom is also available. These documents can be obtained from the Energy Resilience Team, Department of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2AW. These documents have also been published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 “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