UK Offence Report

Circumvention of prohibitions in the Iran Sanctions Regulation

article 12(1) of The Export Control (Iran Sanctions) Order 2016 (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 A person commits an offence and may be arrested where that person participates, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is (whether directly or indirectly)—

a to circumvent any of the prohibitions in Articles 2a(1)(a), 2a(1)(b), 3a(1)(a), 3a(1)(b), 4a, 4b(a), 5(a), 10d(1)(a), 10d(1)(b), 15a(1)(a) and 15a(1)(b) of the Iran Sanctions Regulation, or

b to enable or facilitate the contravention of any such prohibition.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 (intentionally, 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, intentionally.

What would breach article 12(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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Export Control (Iran Sanctions) Order 2016, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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
12 April 2016
In force from
6 May 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order provides for the enforcement of trade restrictions against Iran specified in Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ No L 88, 24.3.2012, p.1) (the “Iran Sanctions Regulation”), as last amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 2015/1861 (OJ L 274, 18.10.2015, p.1). The Order also provides for the enforcement of trade restrictions in Council Regulation (EU) 359/2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran (OJ L 100, 14.4.2011, p.1) (the “Iran Human Rights Regulation”). This Order revokes and replaces the Export Control (Iran Sanctions) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1243) (the “2012 Order”) and amending instruments. The 2012 Order implemented the Iran Sanctions Regulation (before it was most recently amended). The 2012 Order also implemented the Iran Human Rights Regulation, the relevant provisions of which have not been amended. The Order makes a minor amendment to the Export Control (Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol Sanctions) Order 2014 and to the Export Control Order 2008. Articles 4 to 9 create offences for contravention of the trade restrictions in the Iran Sanctions Regulation. Article 7(2) prohibits the procurement of military goods from Iran and Article 7(3) creates an offence for breach of this prohibition. Articles 10 and 11 create offences for contravention of the trade restrictions in the Iran Human Rights Regulation. Article 12 creates offences for the circumvention of the trade restrictions in the Iran Sanctions Regulation. Article 13 creates offences for the circumvention of the trade restrictions in the Iran Human Rights Regulation. Article 14 supplements the provisions of the Iran Sanctions Regulation and of the Iran Human Rights Regulation that allow a competent authority to authorise activities that are otherwise prohibited. Article 14(1) makes it an offence knowingly and recklessly to provide false information for the purpose of obtaining an authorisation or a licence under the Order and Article 14(3) makes it an offence to fail to comply with authorisation or licence requirements or conditions. Article 15 sets out the penalties relating to the offences in the Order. Article 16 provides for the ancillary provisions which apply to the enforcement of customs and excise legislation to apply to the enforcement of this Order. 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