UK Offence Report

Offences related to restrictions on financing certain enterprises

article 7 of The Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) Order 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

7 A person who is knowingly concerned in an activity prohibited by any of the following Articles of the Crimea and Sevastopol Regulation with intent to evade

a prohibition in those Articles commits an offence and may be arrested—

a Article 2a(1)(a) (prohibition on the granting of any financial loan or credit relating to the creation etc. of infrastructure in the areas of transport, telecommunications or energy in Crimea or Sevastopol);

b Article 2a(1)(b) (prohibition on the acquisition or extension of

a participation in enterprises established in Crimea or Sevastopol that are engaged in the creation etc. of infrastructure in the areas of transport, telecommunications or energy in Crimea or Sevastopol);

c Article 2a(1)(c) (prohibition on the creation of

a joint venture relating the creation etc. of infrastructure in the areas of transport, telecommunications or energy in Crimea or Sevastopol).

d Article 2a(2)(a) (prohibition on the granting of any financial loan or credit specifically relating to the exploitation of oil, gas or mineral resources in Crimea or Sevastopol);

e Article 2a(2)(b) (prohibition on the acquisition or extension of

a participation in enterprises established in Crimea or Sevastopol that are engaged in the exploitation of oil, gas or mineral resources in Crimea or Sevastopol);

f Article 2a(2)(c) (prohibition of any joint venture relating to the exploitation of oil, gas or mineral resources in Crimea or Sevastopol);

g Article 2b (prohibition on the provision of technical assistance, brokering services related to the investment activities referred to in Article 2a of the Crimea and Sevastopol Regulation).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, with intent to).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, with intent to.

What would breach article 7?

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 Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) Order 2014.

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
2 September 2014
In force from
26 September 2014
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 makes provision for the enforcement of certain trade restrictions against Russia specified in Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (OJ No L 229, 31.7.2014, p1) (“the Russian Sanctions Regulation”). It also provides for the enforcement of trade and investment restrictions in response of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol specified in Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 (OJ No L 183, 24.6.2014, p9) as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 825/2014 (OJ No L 226, 30.7.14, p2) (“the Crimea and Sevastopol Regulation”). The Order sets out offences in relation to these prohibitions and those offences can be committed by any person in the United Kingdom and, around the world, by any United Kingdom person, as defined in section 11 of the Export Control Act 2002(c. 28). The trade measures against Russia include restrictions on the export or supply of certain dual-use goods as well as on certain services related to the supply of arms and military equipment. There are also restrictions on the export or supply of certain technologies for the oil industry in Russia as listed in Annex II to the Russian Sanctions Regulation. The trade sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol include a ban on new investments related to infrastructure in the sectors of transport, telecommunications and energy and the exploitation of natural resources in Crimea and Sevastopol and an export ban on key equipment and technology related to those sectors. Articles 3 to 5 create offences for contravention of the trade restrictions in Articles 2 to 4 of the Russia Sanctions Regulation. Articles 6 to 8 create offences for contravention of the restrictions in Articles 2(b) and 2a to 2c of the Crimea and Sevastopol Regulation. There are already offences relating to prohibited importation and exportation of goods in sections 50, 68 and 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (“the 1979 Act”)(1979 c.2). Article 4(1) clarifies the scope of the control on exportation of technologies in Article 3 of the Russia Sanctions Regulation (which requires authorisation for the export of technologies listed in Annex II) so as to ensure that breaches of the export control created by that Article are amenable to action under the 1979 Act. Article 9 creates offences for the circumvention of the prohibitions in the Russia Sanctions Regulation or the Crimea and Sevastopol Regulation. Article 10 supplements the provisions of the Russia Sanctions Regulation that allow a competent authority to authorise activities that are otherwise prohibited. Article 10(1) makes it an offence knowingly and recklessly to provide false information for the purpose of obtaining an authorisation and Article 10(3) makes it an offence to fail to comply with authorisation requirements or conditions. Article 11 sets out the penalties relating to the offences in the Order and makes some consequential modifications to the 1979 Act to ensure that the offences covered by that Act are subject to the same penalties as those in the Order. Article 12 provides for the ancillary provisions which apply to the enforcement of customs and excise legislation to also apply to the enforcement of this Order. Article 13 amends Part 2 of Schedule 4 to the Export Control Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/3231) to designate Russia as an “embargoed destination” for the purposes of application of stricter trade controls under that Order. Article 14 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of the Order and publish a report within five years after the Order 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 amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Order or to amend it. A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no or minimal impact on business, charities or voluntary bodies. A copy of the Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the Order on www.legislation.gov.uk. Further information is available from the Export Control Organisation, BIS, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET and on the gov.uk website (www.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 “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