UK Offence Report

Offences by economic operators etc.

regulation 76(1) of The Measuring Instruments 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

76 1 In this regulation “event of default” means— a the placing on the market or putting into use of a regulated measuring instrument which— i does not meet the essential requirements applicable to it; ii has not been the subject of an applicable conformity assessment procedure; iii does not bear the markings or inscriptions required by these Regulations; or iv is not accompanied by the documents and information required by these Regulations; or b any failure to— i create or maintain any records required to be created or maintained under these Regulations; or ii provide to a competent authority documents or information pursuant to a requirement imposed by or under these Regulations; or c any failure to comply with an obligation under regulation 74(1) or 74(2) 2 Where an event of default mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or 1(b) occurs as a result of the failure of an economic operator to comply with an obligation imposed on the economic operator by any provision of these Regulations, the economic operator is guilty of 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an economic operator
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 an economic operator 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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

), it is a defence for that person to show that that person took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence. 2 Where, in proceedings against a person for such an offence the defence provided by paragraph (1) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due to— a the act or default of another; or b reliance on informa

What would breach regulation 76(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Measuring Instruments Regulations 2016, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
29 November 2016
In force from
28 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 implement Directive 2014/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26th February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments. These Regulations revoke and replace the instruments listed in Schedule 3, paragraph 1.The Regulations draw a distinction between “regulated measuring” instruments and “non-prescribed measuring instruments”. The former (which are listed in regulation 3(2)) are required to meet the technical specifications (referred to as “essential requirements”) which are set out in the Directive and referred to in Schedule 1 to the Regulations. On the other hand, “non-prescribed measuring instruments” (any measuring instrument referred to in Regulation 3(1) but which is not a regulated measuring instrument) are not regulated in the United Kingdom but provision is made to allow them to meet the applicable essential requirements where the instrument is for export to a EEA state which requires compliance with the essential requirements. Part 1 of the Regulations contains definitions, revocations and transitional provisions and an exemption from the requirements of the Regulations in relation to trade fairs, exhibitions and demonstrations. Part 2 of the Regulations sets out the obligations of economic operators (manufacturers, importers and distributors ) in relation to the marketing of regulated measuring instruments in the United Kingdom and in particular to ensure that they meet the essential requirements applicable to those instruments. Part 3 of the Regulations makes provision for the establishment of compliance with the essential requirements of non-prescribed measuring instruments. Part 4 of the Regulations contains provisions as to how compliance with the essential requirements is to be achieved and the application of conformity assessment procedures to establish compliance with the essential requirements by bodies designated by EEA states (which are referred to in the Regulations as “notified bodies”) and related matters. Part 5 of the Regulations makes provision for the designation of notified bodies and their notification to the European Commission. Part 6 of the Regulations contains provisions that regulate the use for trade of the measuring instruments referred to in regulation 61. Part 7 of the Regulations makes provision for market surveillance in relation to regulated measuring instruments and enforcement of the Regulations. Part 8 of the Regulations makes provision in relation to the unauthorised application of marks and provision in relation to penalties for offences, defences and the criminal liability of persons other than a principal offender. Part 9 of the Regulations contains miscellaneous and supplemental provisions. A draft of these Regulations was notified to the European Commission in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p.37) as amended by Directive 98/48/EC (OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p.18). A transposition not and an impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the public sector and voluntary sector is available from the Regulatory Delivery Directorate 1 Victoria Street, London SW1 0ET. They are available with the explanatory memorandum 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 is “guilty of 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