UK Offence Report

1 Subject to paragraph (2), any person who contravenes byelaw 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 commits an offence.

section 11(1) of The RAF Barford St John Byelaws 2014

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 Subject to paragraph (2), any person who contravenes byelaw 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 section 11(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 contravenes byelaw 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the RAF Barford St John Byelaws 2014, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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
19 March 2014
In force from
19 July 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 Byelaws) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

Part II of the Military Lands Act 1892 (1892 c. 43) provides for the making of byelaws to regulate the use of land belonging to a Secretary of State and appropriated for military purposes and to secure the safety of the public where public use of that land is permitted and for the government of that land when so used by the public. These byelaws regulate the area of land known as RAF Barford St John, being land belonging to a Secretary of State that has been appropriated for military purposes (which includes any purpose of the Ministry of Defence or of any of Her Majesty’s naval, military or air forces). The site is split into a number of Controlled Areas and a Protected Area for the purposes of the byelaws. Public access is permitted in the Controlled Areas when they are not closed to the public, except for areas that are enclosed or entry is stated to be prohibited or restricted or residential areas. Public access to the Protected Area is not permitted at any time. These byelaws do not interfere with public rights of way within the Controlled Areas (no public rights of way exist within the Protected Area). Motor vehicles (except for invalid carriages) and bicycles may only be used on roads within the site by a lawful user in connection with the discharge their functions or with permission from the appointed person. A copy of these byelaws may be viewed and downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/ministry-of-defence-byelaws and copies are displayed on signboards erected locally. By section 17(2) of the Military Lands Act 1892 any person who commits an offence against any byelaw made under the Act, is liable, on conviction before a court of summary jurisdiction, to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. At the time of printing the maximum fine on level 2 is five hundred pounds (£500). Any person seeking a permission under byelaw 10(b) should apply in writing to the RAF Commander, Building 200 Command Section, RAF Croughton, Brackley, Northants NN13 5NQ.

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