UK Offence Report

Liability of persons other than the principal offender

regulation 64(2) of The Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016

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

2 Where a body corporate commits an offence, a relevant person is also guilty of the offence where the body corporate’s offence was committed— a with the consent or connivance of the relevant person; or b as a result of the negligence of the relevant person.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 body corporate
Conduct
breaching the provision
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 body corporate 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 regulation 64(2)?

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 Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016.

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
15 November 2016
In force from
8 December 2016
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations transpose Directive 2014/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility (recast) (OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p.79) (“the Directive”). The Directive repeals and replaces Directive 2004/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility and repealing Directive 89/336/EEC which was implemented in the United Kingdom by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/3418) (as amended). These Regulations revoke and replace S.I. 2006/3418. Regulations 3 to 5 set out the application of the Regulations to apparatus and equipment, as defined in regulation 2. Part 2 sets out the obligations of economic operators. Regulations 8 to 16 set out the obligations that are specific to manufacturers. Obligations include ensuring that apparatus has been designed and manufactured in accordance with the essential requirements set out in Schedule 1, having a relevant conformity assessment procedure carried out before the apparatus is placed on the market and affixing the CE marking. Regulation 38 sets out the obligations which an authorised representative, appointed by a manufacturer, may and may not perform on the manufacturer’s behalf. Regulations 17 to 25 set out the obligations that are specific to importers. These obligations include ensuring that the importer is not placing on the market apparatus which is not in conformity with the essential requirements, checking that the manufacturer has carried out a relevant conformity assessment procedure and ensuring the apparatus bears the name and address of the importer. Those regulations also include an obligation to ensure that, while the importer is responsible for apparatus, the storage and transport of the apparatus does not jeopardise its conformity with the essential requirements. Regulations 26 to 31 set out the obligations that are specific to distributors. These obligations include acting with due care to ensure that apparatus is in conformity with Part 2 and checking that apparatus bears the CE marking. Those regulations also include an obligation to ensure that, while the distributer is responsible for apparatus, the storage and transport of the apparatus does not jeopardise its conformity with the essential requirements. Regulations 32 to 37 set out obligations which apply to all economic operators. These obligations include making sure that the EU declaration of conformity is in English before apparatus is placed on the market. Those regulations also include an obligation to identify other economic operators in the supply chain, an obligation to provide information with apparatus, such as required precautions to ensure conformity with Part 1 of Schedule 1, and a prohibition on the improper use of the CE marking. Part 3 contains provisions concerning the conformity assessment procedures, declarations of conformity and CE marking for apparatus. Part 4 contains provisions concerning the bodies which carry out conformity assessment procedures under the Regulations. Part 5 sets out provisions for market surveillance and enforcement of these Regulations. Regulation 52 designates the enforcing authorities and regulation 53 designates the market surveillance authorities. Regulation 54 and Schedule 7 provide for the powers which the enforcement and market surveillance authorities are to have. Regulation 61 provides for the contravention of certain provisions of these Regulations to be an offence. Regulation 62 sets out the penalties that are to apply for offences under these Regulations. Part 6 sets out a review provision and transitional provisions and consequential amendments. The Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/3418) (as amended) will continue to apply to apparatus placed on the market before the date on which these Regulations came into force. Regulation 75 makes consequential amendments. A transposition note and full impact assessment of the impact that these Regulations will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector are available from the Single Market Product Safety Team, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET and are also published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside these Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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