UK Offence Report

Offences related to certain associated services necessary for deep water oil exploration etc. in Russia

article 5A of The Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) (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

5A A person who is knowingly concerned in an activity prohibited by Article 3a of the Russia Sanctions Regulation (prohibition on the provision of certain associated services necessary for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration and production, or shale oil projects in Russia) with intent to evade

a prohibition in that Article commits an offence and may be arrested.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 5A?

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) (Amendment) Order 2014.

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
5 November 2014
In force from
29 November 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 new trade restrictions against Russia specified in Council Regulation (EU) No 960/2014 (OJ No L 271, 12.9.2014, p3) (“the Amending Regulation”) which amends Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine. It does so by amending the Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/2357) (“the Russia Sanctions Order”) which makes provision for the enforcement of all current trade restrictions against Russia. The new measures include prohibitions on the sale, supply, transfer or export of dual-use goods and technology to certain listed persons or entities in Russia, and on the provision of technical assistance, brokering, financing or financial assistance related to those goods to those listed persons or entities. They also include a prohibition on the provision of certain associated services necessary for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration and production, or shale oil projects in Russia, covering drilling, well testing, logging and completion services and the supply of specialised floating vessels. Article 3 of the Order amends the Russia Sanctions Order to create offences and provide the penalties for contravention of the prohibitions set out in Articles 2a and 3a of the Amending Regulation. 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 Regulations 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

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