UK Offence Report

Activities prohibited without a licence

regulation 4(1) of The Control of Explosives Precursors Regulations 2014 (revoked)

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 member of the general public commits an offence if he or she does anything listed in paragraph (2) without having

a licence, or

a recognised non-GB licence, to do that thing with respect to that explosives precursor.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 4(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person or she does anything listed in paragraph (2) without having a licence, or a recognised non-GB licence, to do that thing with respect to that explosives precursor.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Control of Explosives Precursors Regulations 2014.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2014-09-02); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 8189 — 08189 - Offences under Explosives Precursors Regulations 2014. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
18 July 2014
In force from
2 September 2014
Extent
E+W+S

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 make provision to implement Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15th January 2013 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors (“the EU Regulation”) in England and Wales and Scotland. Separate regulations make provision to implement the EU Regulation in Northern Ireland. These Regulations come into force on 2nd September 2014. This is subject to regulation 4(4), which postpones controls on the possession and use of substances until March 2016. Regulation 3 defines the substances to which these Regulations apply. There are two categories of substance: a The first category is referred to in the Regulations as “regulated explosives precursors”. This covers the substances listed in Annex I of the EU Regulation and includes mixtures and other substances that include those substances. Save in relation to the reporting duties in regulation 6, this category only applies to a substance if it is present in a concentration higher than the level specified in Annex I of the EU Regulation. b The second category is referred to as “reportable explosives precursors”. This covers the substances listed in Annex II of the EU Regulation. It is only relevant for the purposes of the reporting duties in regulation 6. Again, it includes mixtures and other substances that include a listed substance. Regulation 4 gives effect to Articles 4(1) and (6) of the EU Regulation. The government has chosen to establish a licensing regime in accordance with Article 4(2) of the EU Regulation. Regulation 4(1) therefore makes it an offence for members of the general public to import, acquire, possess or use a regulated explosives precursor without having a licence issued by the Home Office under regulation 7 or a licence recognised under regulation 10 (referred to as a “recognised non-GB licence”). In accordance with Article 16 of the EU Regulation, regulation 4 will not apply to the possession or use of a substance until 3rd March 2016, but it will apply to importation and acquisition of a substance from 2nd September 2014. Regulation 5(1) implements Article 4(7) of the EU Regulation by making it a criminal offence to supply a regulated explosives precursor to a member of the general public without first verifying that the member of the general public has the requisite licence to acquire and possess (or acquire, possess and use) the substance in question. Regulation 5(3) requires suppliers to enter details of each transaction on the customer’s licence. This is to assist suppliers in identifying suspicious transactions. Licences issued by the Home Office under regulation 7 will include a section in which details of transactions can be recorded. Regulation 5(4) implements Article 5 of the EU Regulation by making it a criminal offence to supply a regulated explosives precursor to a member of the general public without affixing a “warning label” to the packaging in which it is supplied, warning people that it is an offence to acquire, possess or use it without a licence. This is in addition to any other legal requirements about the labelling of dangerous substances. Regulation 6 implements Article 9 of the EU Regulation by requiring those who supply substances (at any stage in the supply chain, including supply to businesses) to report suspicious transactions and by requiring businesses to report significant disappearances or losses of substances. Failure to comply with these reporting requirements will be a criminal offence. This regulation extends to a larger group of substances than the other regulations – it covers both “regulated” and “reportable” explosives precursors and, in the case of regulated explosives precursors, there is no minimum concentration level. Regulations 7 to 9 establish the new licensing regime in accordance with Article 7 of the EU Regulation. Regulation 9 gives people the right to request an internal review of licensing decisions taken by the Secretary of State. Failing that, people may be entitled to apply for a judicial review of the decision, subject to the requirements of general public law. Regulation 10 provides for the recognition of licences issued by the competent authorities of other member States recognised by the UK in accordance with Article 7(6) of the EU Regulation and for the recognition of licences issued in Northern Ireland. Regulations 11 to 14 contain provision for the investigation, enforcement and prosecution of offences created by these Regulations. These provisions mirror certain provisions of the Poisons Act 1972. Regulation 15 removes the entries for nitric acid and sulphuric acid from the Poisons List made under the Poisons Act 1972. Those substances appear in Annex I and Annex II respectively of the EU Regulation and will now be regulated in accordance with the EU Regulation. Regulations 17 and 18 allow for spent cautions and convictions to be disclosed in connection with decisions to grant, amend, suspend, vary or revoke licences under regulation 7. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Home Office, and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website. A copy of the transposition note in relation to the implementation of the EU Regulation is also available from the Home Office, and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

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 “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