UK Offence Report

Criminal offences in relation to false claims or evidence

rule 41(1) of The Energy Supply Company Administration (Scotland) Rules 2013

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 If a creditor produces under Rule 36 a statement of claim, account, voucher or other evidence which is false, the creditor shall be guilty of an offence unless the creditor shows that the creditor neither knew nor had reason to believe that the statement of claim, account, voucher or other evidence was false.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 rule 41(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 Energy Supply Company Administration (Scotland) Rules 2013.
  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

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
30 April 2013
In force from
7 June 2013
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 Rules) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Rules set out the procedure for the conduct of energy supply company administration proceedings in Scotland. Energy supply company administration is a special insolvency regime specifically created for the companies that supply gas and electricity in Great Britain. The framework for the energy supply company administration regime is set out in Chapter 5 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2011 (c.16). That Act applies (with modifications) much of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Energy Act 2004 (c.20), which provides for a special insolvency regime for energy companies that run and operate gas and electricity networks in Great Britain. Only energy supply companies as defined in section 94 of the Energy Act 2011 may enter energy supply company administration. These are companies that hold a licence granted under section 7A(1)(a) or (b) of the Gas Act 1986 to supply gas, or a licence granted under section 6(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 1989 to supply electricity. The energy supply company administration process is commenced by an application to court for an energy supply company administration order. Such an application can be made by either the Secretary of State or, with the consent of the Secretary of State, by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority. An insolvency practitioner appointed to manage the affairs, business and property of the energy supply company is defined in section 94(2) of the Energy Act 2011 as an energy administrator. These Rules are based upon the provisions of the existing Insolvency (Scotland) Rules 1986 (S.I.1986/1915) but are a stand-alone set of rules applicable only to energy supply company administration proceedings. These Rules apply to energy supply companies which the courts in Scotland have jurisdiction to wind up. There are separate Rules (The Energy Supply Company Administration Rules 2013 – S.I.2013/) which apply to energy supply companies which the courts in England and Wales have jurisdiction to wind up. Part 1 of these Rules contains the interpretation and application provisions. Part 2 sets out the procedure to be followed in relation to proceedings for the appointment of an energy administrator and on whom such proceedings must be served. Part 3 details the initial steps to be taken in energy supply company administration proceedings. These include the notification and advertisement of the energy administrator’s appointment and the preparation of a statement of the energy supply company’s affairs. Part 3 also sets out the information that must be given to creditors in the energy administrator’s proposals. Part 4 governs the conduct of creditors and company meetings called by an energy administrator during energy supply company administration proceedings. Part 4 also deals with the provision of progress reports relating to the administration and applications by the administrator to dispose of secured property. Part 5 makes provision in respect of claims in the energy supply company administration and how they are to be established and quantified, as well as the voting rights that flow from claims which are accepted. It also provides for a criminal offence in respect of false claims by creditors. Part 6 concerns distributions to creditors of the energy supply company and the expenses of the administration. It sets out the order of priority in any distribution and the mechanism for calculating the outlays and remuneration of the energy administrator. Part 7 sets out the arrangements for ending an energy supply company administration. There are specific provisions detailing the ending of an energy supply company administration by court order, as well as the process by which an energy supply company administration moves into either a creditors’ voluntary liquidation or dissolution of the energy supply company. Part 8 deals with the requirements and procedures for replacing an energy administrator and includes provisions relating to the resignation of an energy administrator and the removal of an energy administrator from office by court order. Part 9 makes provision in respect of the share of the assets of the energy supply company for unsecured creditors (the prescribed part). Part 10 makes provision for the use of proxies at creditors’ or members’ meetings held during an energy supply company administration, including the rights of inspection of such proxies and the procedure to be followed where a proxy-holder has a financial interest in the outcome of a resolution to be voted on at the meeting. Part 11 deals with the rules relating to the giving of notices in relation to the energy supply company administration. It includes provisions relating to electronic delivery and the use of websites by the energy administrator. Part 12 deals with miscellaneous provisions, including the energy administrator’s caution, electronic submission of forms, content of notices and provides the court with power to cure defects in procedure. The Schedule to the Rules contains the forms that are to be used in energy supply company administration proceedings. The forms in this Schedule are based upon the forms contained in the Insolvency (Scotland) Rules 1986 which deal with ordinary administration, but have been modified for the purposes of energy supply company administration. A full impact assessment has been produced for this instrument, and has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies are obtainable from Dawn Armstrong, Demand Reduction and Retail Markets, Department of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HD ( email:dawn.armstrong@decc.gsi.gov.uk). The impact assessment is also available alongside the instrument at 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