UK Offence Report

1 It is an offence for a person to disclose information or a document obtained in accordance with this Order…

paragraph 6(1) of SCHEDULE 3 of The Liberia (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2015 (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 It is an offence for a person to disclose information or a document obtained in accordance with this Order (including a copy or extract made of such a document) except— a to a person who would have been authorised to request the information or document under this Order; b to a person holding or acting in any office under or in the service of— i the Crown in right of the Government of the United Kingdom, ii the Government of the Isle of Man, iii the States of Guernsey or Alderney or the Chief Pleas of Sark, iv the States of Jersey, or v the Government of any British overseas territory; c for the purpose of giving assistance or cooperation, with the authority of the Governor, to— i any organ of the United Nations, or ii any person in the service of the United Nations, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission or the government of any State or territory; d with a view to instituting, or otherwise for the purposes of, any proceedings— i in the Territory, for an offence under this Order, or ii in the United Kingdom, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or any British overseas territory (other than the Territory), for an offence under a similar provision in any such jurisdiction; e to the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom or to the relevant authority with responsibility in any other State or territory for regulating and supervising financial services business; or f to any third party, with the consent of a person who, in the person’s own right, is entitled to the information or to possession of the document, copy or extract.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
dealing with funds or making them available in breach of sanctions
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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach paragraph 6(1) of SCHEDULE 3?

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. Moving, converting or paying away funds that belong to a designated person under the Liberia (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2015, without a licence from the Treasury.
  2. Making funds or economic resources available to a designated person - which includes paying a third party who will pass on the benefit.
  3. Dealing with an asset in ignorance of the designation is still caught where the provision imposes no knowledge requirement; check the fault element stated below before assuming otherwise.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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 November 2015
In force from
10 December 2015
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 gives effect in specified Overseas Territories to sanctions imposed on Liberia by the United Nations Security Council, most recently renewed by resolution 2237 (2015) of 2nd September 2015. This Order also reflects the implementation of these sanctions by the European Union in Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1782 and Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1776, both adopted on 5th October 2015. Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1776 repealed Council Regulation (EC) No. 872/2004 of 29th April 2004. Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1782 amended Council Common Position 2008/109/CFSP of 12th February 2008. This Order revokes and replaces the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2012, the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2007, the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2007, the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2004 and the Liberia (Restrictive Measures) (Overseas Territories) Order 2004. United Nations Security Council resolution 2237 (2015) of 2nd September 2015 renewed the arms embargo against non-governmental persons in Liberia for a further period of nine months from the date of adoption of that resolution and terminated the travel and financial measures set forth in United Nations Security Council resolutions 1532 (2004) of 12th March 2004 and 1521 (2003) of 22nd December 2003. The Order makes provision for the Governor to license certain activities in line with exemptions under the sanctions regime.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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