UK Offence Report

Transfers of funds to and from North Korea

article 10P(2) of The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) ( No. 2) 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

2 A credit or financial institution (“P”) commits an offence if P enters into or continues to participate in any transaction, knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that the transaction is with— a a credit or financial institution domiciled in North Korea; b a branch or subsidiary of a credit or financial institution domiciled in North Korea, regardless of the location of such branch or subsidiary; or c a credit or financial institution listed in Annex VI to the Council Regulation.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 financial institution
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Objective fault
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What a financial institution personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: reasonable cause to suspect.

What would breach article 10P(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 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) ( No. 2) Order 2016.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
13 July 2016
In force from
10 August 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 amends the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/3066), as amended. This Order reflects and gives appropriate effect in specified Overseas Territories to additional sanctions measures adopted by the European Union in Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/849 and Council Regulation (EC) No 329/2007, most recently amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2016/841 of 27th May 2016. That Council Decision and Council Regulation (EU) 2016/841 also make minor changes to the implementation by the European Union of the sanctions recently adopted by the United Nations Security Council in resolution 2270 (2016). These UN sanctions were given effect in specified Overseas Territories in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/630) and this Order gives effect to those minor changes. In particular this Order provides for the imposition of additional financial sanctions measures, including those related to investment in commercial activity or joint ventures with, and financing and provision of investment services to, certain North Korean persons. It also prevents certain transactions with North Korean persons and transfers of funds to and from North Korea. This Order also gives effect to a new sectoral prohibition relating to obtaining petroleum products.

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