UK Offence Report

Amendments to the Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) Order 2014

article 2(3) of The Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) (Amendment) 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

3 In article 5—

a the words before sub-paragraph (a) become paragraph (1);

b in paragraph (1) as so renumbered, for “Russian Regulation”, substitute “Russia Sanctions Regulation”;

c after that paragraph, insert—

2 A person commits an offence and may be arrested if that person—

a is concerned in an activity for which EU authorisation is required by Article 4(2b) of the Russia Sanctions Regulation (authorisation required for the provision of technical assistance, financing or financial assistance related to the sale, supply, etc. and import, etc. of Hydrazine, the import, etc. of Unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine, or the sale, supply, etc. and import, etc. of Monomethyl hydrazine, destined for the use of certain launchers) either—

i insofar as that Article concerns the provision of technical assistance; or

ii insofar as that Article concerns the provision of financing or financial assistance;

b does not have the required EU authorisation; and

c is knowingly concerned in that activity with intent to evade the prohibition in that Article.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
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 2(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 the goods across the border under the Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2015 without the licence the instrument requires.
  2. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  3. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

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
23 November 2015
In force from
16 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 make provision for the enforcement of a new trade restriction against Russia specified in Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1797 (OJ No L 263, 8.10.2015, p.10), which amends Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ L 229, 31.7.2014, p. 1) (the “Russia Sanctions Regulation”). 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 restriction imposes a requirement for authorisation for the provision of technical assistance, financing or financial assistance for: (i) the sale, supply, transfer or export or the import, purchase or transport of Hydrazine; (ii) the import, purchase or transport of Unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine; (iii) the sale, supply, transfer or export or the import, purchase or transport of Monomethyl hydrazine. Article 2 of the Order amends the Russia Sanctions Order to amend certain definitions, create offences for breach of the new restriction in Article 4(2b) of the Russia Sanctions Regulation insofar as it concerns the provision of technical assistance and insofar as it concerns the provision of financing or financial assistance, and for circumvention of the restriction, and provides penalties for commission of those offences. An 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