UK Offence Report

Making of false statements etc.

regulation 42(1) of The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) 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 If any person, in giving any information or making any application under or for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations, makes any statement which that person knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular, that person is guilty of an offence and liable— a on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine; b on summary conviction in Scotland, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; c on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (recklessly).

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: recklessly.

What would breach regulation 42(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
21 June 2016
In force from
29 July 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 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21st November 2012, establishing a single European railway area (recast) (O.J. No. L 343, 14.12.12, p. 32) (“the Directive”). The Directive repeals three key EU measures: (1) Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29th July 1991 on the development of the Community’s railways (O.J. No. L 237, 24.8.91, p. 25); (2) Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19th June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings (O.J. No. L143, 27.6.95, p. 70); and (3) Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26th February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure (O.J. No. L 75, 5.03.01, p. 29), together with the various directives which amend them (listed in Annex IX of the Directive), and consolidates these provisions in one place. The repealed EU measures were previously implemented in Great Britain (excluding the Channel Tunnel) by the Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3049), amended by S.I. 2009/1122 and S.I. 2015/786, (“the Access and Management Regulations”) and the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3050) (“the Licensing Regulations”). They were implemented for the Channel Tunnel by the Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/3207), amended by S.I. 2008/2366 and S.I. 2009/2081. This instrument is revoked and replaced by the Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) (Charging Framework and Transfer of Economic Regulation Functions) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/785) (“the Channel Tunnel Order”), which transfers responsibility for the economic regulation of the Tunnel to the Office of Rail and Road and Autorité de Régulation des Activités Ferroviaires. These Regulations implement the substantive changes required by the Directive by revoking and re-enacting the Access and Management Regulations with amendments, and by amending the Licensing Regulations. Subject to one exception these Regulations do not apply to Northern Ireland. Part 1 contains preliminary provisions, including the scope of the Regulations (regulation 4). Part 2 grants access rights to operators of all types of rail freight and international passenger services to the entire rail network in Great Britain, including access to terminals and ports linked to the rail network, and access to, and the supply of, the services listed in Schedule 2. The list of services has been expanded and clarified by the Directive, and rights of access to infrastructure now include access to infrastructure which connects service facilities. Regulation 6 imposes new obligations as to the rights to the supply of services, and when requests for these can be refused. Regulation 7 includes a new provision ensuring that cross-border agreements do not discriminate between railway undertakings or restrict their freedom to operate cross-border services. Part 3 sets out the requirements about infrastructure management and the independence of railway undertakings. Regulation 10 imposes new provisions relating to organisational independence and separation of accounts where service providers are under direct or indirect control of dominant bodies or firms. Regulation 11 requires the Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers to publish an indicative railway infrastructure strategy by December 2019. Regulation 12 requires infrastructure managers to produce a business plan, and applicants are given the opportunity to comment on a draft. Railway undertakings must also draw up a business plan. Infrastructure managers are placed under a requirement to produce a network statement containing the information set out in regulation 13, the detailed content of which has been expanded since the earlier Directives. New provisions in this Part include a requirement that bodies which provide rail freight and passenger transport services publish separate accounts for both elements of their business, with strengthened provisions regarding the separate treatment of public funds provided for public services. Part 4, together with Schedule 3 and the Channel Tunnel charging framework (set out in the Channel Tunnel Order), sets out the structure for the charging of fees for the use of railway infrastructure, and the charging principles. Regulation 14 requires infrastructure managers and service providers to charge fees which must be used to fund their business. Regulation 16 requires the establishment of performance schemes which may include penalties for poor performance and the payment of compensation arising from disruption. A dispute resolution system must be made available. Regulation 17 permits a charge to be imposed for regular non-usage of allocated train paths. Regulation 18 requires the infrastructure manager to cooperate with other infrastructure managers within the European Union to coordinate charging for services crossing more than one network. Schedule 3 sets out the principles of access charging and the calculation of the train operating costs to be calculated with reference to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/909 (see paragraph 1). This means charges for the supply of such services must not exceed the costs of providing them, plus a reasonable profit. Paragraph 2 of this Schedule requires the infrastructure manager to evaluate the relevance of any mark-up charges for different market segments. Paragraph 7 of this Schedule imposes new principles to apply to performance schemes. Part 5, together with Schedule 4, sets out the framework and timetable for the allocation of infrastructure capacity. The trading of capacity between applicants is prohibited, and allocation in the form of fixed train paths cannot be granted for longer than one timetable period. Regulations 26 to 28 set out the procedure that must be followed where an element of the railway infrastructure is congested, and regulation 29 provides a ‘use it or lose it’ provision in respect of allocated capacity. Part 6 allocates certain regulatory functions to the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”). Regulation 32 provides a right of appeal to the ORR for applicants aggrieved with various aspects of the allocation of capacity and the fees charged for its use, and requires the ORR to make a decision on such appeals within six weeks. Regulation 34 requires the ORR to monitor competition in the rail services market and to take appropriate action to deal with undesirable developments in the market either arising out of its own investigations, or from appeals which have been submitted. Regulation 35 gives the ORR the power to audit various bodies, and makes clear that its power to request information under section 80 of the Railways Act 1993 (c. 43) (as modified by regulation 36) includes a power to request the information listed in Schedule 5. Regulation 37 requires cooperation between regulatory bodies across the European Union. Part 7 amends the Licensing Regulations to reflect amendments to the provisions which they implement, and also to update references to EU legislation as necessary. Schedule 1 contains consequential amendments to the Railways Act 1993 and other miscellaneous provisions. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector has been produced and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum and transposition note alongside the instrument at 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.

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