UK Offence Report

Instruments creating charges to be available for inspection

paragraph 859Q(5) of SCHEDULE 1 of The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 25) Regulations 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

5 If default is made for

14 days in complying with subsection (3) or an inspection required under subsection (4) is refused, an offence is committed by—

a the company, and

b every officer of the company who is in default.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 company
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 company 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 paragraph 859Q(5) of SCHEDULE 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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 25) Regulations 2013.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 March 2013
In force from
6 April 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations are made under section 894 of the Companies Act 2006 (c.46) (“the Act”). They repeal and replace the provisions of Chapters 1 and 2 of Part 25 of the Act, which provides a scheme for the registration of charges created by companies. Regulation 3 repeals the provisions of Chapter 1 (companies registered in England and Wales and Northern Ireland) and Chapter 2 (companies registered in Scotland) and regulation 2 gives effect to Schedule 1 which creates a new Chapter A1 in Part 25. Chapter A1 sets out a single scheme for registration of company charges which applies to any company registered in the United Kingdom. It replaces the repealed Chapters 1 and 2. Regulation 4 revokes the Companies (Particulars of Company charges) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2996). Regulation 5 gives effect to Schedule 2 which contains consequential amendments. Regulation 6 provides for application and makes transitional provision. Schedule 1 sets out the new Chapter A1 of Part 25 of the Act containing sections 859A to 859Q. It provides for a single scheme for the registration of company charges applicable to all UK registered companies irrespective of the place of incorporation of the company within the UK. Section 859A provides for the registration by the registrar of companies of a charge submitted to the registrar by a company or other person interested in the charge. The registrar may only register a charge if a certified copy of the instrument is delivered to the registrar with a statement of particulars as provided for in section 859D. Section 859A(6) identifies particular categories of charge which are not within the scope of section 859A. Section 859G provides that specified information may be omitted from the certified copy of the instrument before it is submitted for registration. Section 859B makes similar provision in respect of debentures as is provided for in respect of charges. Section 859C provides for the registration of charges over property acquired by companies which is already subject to a charge. Section 859E sets out in tabular form the dates when charges of specified categories are deemed to have been created for the purposes of the calculation of the period of 21 days within which the charge must, in accordance with section 859A, be submitted to the registrar for registration. Section 859F provides for application to court to extend the period for delivery for registration. Failure to deliver the charge for registration within the time permitted will result in the charge being invalid as against a liquidator or administrator of the company (section 859H). Section 859I provides for the entry on the register of the documents delivered to the registrar and the allocation to the charge of a unique reference code, and the provision by the registrar of a certificate of registration of the charge. Sections 859J, 859K. 859L and 859O make provision for the registration of other statements and notices relating to the charge and to the appointment or receivers under a charge. Sections 859M and 859N provide for the rectification of the register and the replacement of certified copies entered on the register where specified conditions are met. Sections 859P and 859Q require a company to keep available for inspection copies of charges created by the company. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs to business is available from Business Environment Directorate of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET or at www.gov.uk/bis 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

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 0.55.

Basis
c06_offence_committed
Confidence
0.55 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