UK Offence Report

Offences related to Syrian cultural property

article 15A(1) of The Syria (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) 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

1 A person to whom this Order applies (“P”) commits an offence if P knowingly—

a imports, exports or transfers, or

b provides brokering services related to the import, export or transfer of Syrian cultural property in circumstances where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods have been removed from Syria—

i without the consent of their legitimate owner, or

ii in breach of Syrian or international law.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
acting without the licence or authorisation required
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).

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; qualified by absence of consent (an element).

What would breach article 15A(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. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Syria (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2014.
  2. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  3. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
11 February 2014
In force from
11 March 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 amends the Syria (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2012, as amended, (“the principal Order”). The principal Order gives effect in specified Overseas Territories to sanctions in respect of Syria adopted by the European Union in Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP adopted on 1st December 2011, as amended. This Order amends the principal Order to give effect to changes to the sanctions measures adopted by the European Union in Council Decision 2013/255 CFSP of 31 May 2013 as amended by Council Decision 2013/760/CFSP of 13 December 2013. This Order modifies the provisions relating to the import of restricted goods such that no offence will be committed where the import etc has been authorised by the Governor, with the consent of the Secretary of State. It also modifies the grounds on which the Governor may grant a licence authorising activity which would otherwise be prohibited by the asset freeze and introduces a new offence of importing, exporting, transferring stolen Syrian cultural property, or providing brokering services related to those activities. It replaces articles 19 to 24 and Schedule 5 of the principal Order with a new Schedule 5 containing updated provisions relating to evidence and information.

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