UK Offence Report

Other signing offences

regulation 119(1) of The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Recall Petition) 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

1 A person is guilty of an offence if that person— a signs a petition in person or by post, whether as an elector or as proxy, knowing that they are not entitled to do so; b applies to sign a petition by proxy or by post as an elector, knowing that they are not entitled at any time during the signing period to sign the petition; c applies for the appointment of a proxy to sign a petition for them knowing that they or their prospective proxy is not entitled at any time during the signing period to sign the petition; or d signs a petition in person or by post, as proxy for some other person, knowing the other person is not entitled to do so.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 (knowing that).

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: knowing that.

What would breach regulation 119(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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Recall Petition) Regulations 2016.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
6 months

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
3 March 2016
In force from
Not determined
Extent
E+W

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 provide the process for a recall petition (“petition”) which has been triggered by virtue of one of three recall conditions under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 (“the Act”). The Regulations apply to the United Kingdom with the exceptions set out in regulation 2. Part 2 make provisions about the register and places an obligation on the petition officer to compile a register of persons who are entitled to sign the petition by virtue of section 10 of the Act (“the register”). The petition officer must publish the register on the third day before the beginning of the period during which the petition is available for signing (“the signing period”). No later than the third working day after receiving the Speaker’s notice under section 5 of the Act the petition officer must give public notice of the number of people who are required to sign the petition in order for the petition to be successful in accordance with section 14 of the Act. Part 3 makes provision for the conduct of the petition at the petition signing places including: action to be taken before the signing period begins; conduct during the signing period; the counting of the signing sheets after the signing period has ended; and the disposal of documents held in relation to the petition. Part 4 Chapter 1 prescribes the entitlement for a person to sign the petition by post or by proxy, and for a proxy to sign the petition by post (“absent signing”). Regulation 50 provides an automatic right to absent signing for persons who in a parliamentary election are already entitled to vote by post or proxy, or for proxies who is entitled to vote by post. Where a person is entitled to vote by post for a definite period that period is deemed to last until the end of the signing period for the purposes of signing the petition despite the fact that it may expire during that period. A person can also apply to the registration officer to sign a petition by post or by proxy for a definite or indefinite period or to sign a particular petition by post or proxy. Regulation 57 sets out the provisions relating to the appointment of proxies; and regulation 58 set out the signing procedure as a proxy. Chapter 2 prescribes the requirements regarding the applications for absent signing, including the closing dates for such applications and appeals against a refusal to grant an application. Part 5 prescribes the process for the issuing and receipt of postal signing sheets. Chapter 1 prescribes the contents of the postal signing packs which must be sent out to each elector or proxy and the time when they are to be sent. Chapter 2 prescribes the process for the issuing of the postal signing packs and provisions relating to spoilt, lost and cancelled signing sheets. Chapter 3 prescribes the process for the receipt of the postal signing sheets and other documents, including the opening of envelopes, checking declarations of identity and postal signing statements, keeping a list of rejected postal signing sheets and the forwarding of documents after the signing sheets have been counted. Part 6 prescribes the offences relating to the petition process, which are modelled on the existing offences in the Representation of the People Act 1983 (“the 1983 Act”) which relate to parliamentary elections. Part 7 prescribes various miscellaneous provisions including forms of communication, electronic signatures, translations, public notices and publication of documents. It also amends the following legislative provisions: the wording of the signing sheet under section 9(4) of the Act; and section 6C of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to enable accredited observers to attend the count of the signing sheets. It also amends secondary legislation to make provision for the notices and time limits under section 13BC of the 1983 Act (as inserted by paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 to the Act) regarding the alteration of registers during the petition process. Schedule 1 makes provisions about the supply of registers. The registration officer is required to supply a copy of the electoral parliamentary register for the constituency relevant to the petition to the petition officer, together with any notices issued under the Representation of the People Act 1983 with regard to alterations of that register. Paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 sets out conditions regarding the use of such information and documents. Schedule 2 prescribes the forms that are to be used for the petition process. Schedule 3 prescribes the provisions relating to access to the marked registers in respect of the petition. Paragraph 2 places limits on those persons who are entitled to receive a copy of the marked registers and places obligations on those persons regarding the handling of that information. Paragraph 3 requires the registration officer to make available for inspection the marked registers where that officer is satisfied the relevant conditions have been met. The registration officer is also required to make other documents relating to the petition available for inspection with the exception of the signing sheet, completed corresponding number lists, certificates as to employment and the lists of rejected postal signing sheets. Schedule 4 applies existing provisions in relation to legal proceedings to petitions with the necessary modifications. Part 1 applies the provisions set out in Part 3 of the 1983 Act (with modifications) and Part 2 applies the Election Petition Rules 1960 (with modifications). An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as no impact on the voluntary or private sectors is foreseen.

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