UK Offence Report

Enforcement of requirements in relation to evidence etc.

regulation 17(5) of The Water Industry Designated Codes (Appeals to the Competition and Markets Authority) Regulations 2017

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

5 A person who wilfully alters, suppresses or destroys a document that the person has been required to produce under regulation 14 is guilty of an offence and is liable— a on summary conviction, to a fine; b on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (wilfully).

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: wilfully.

What would breach regulation 17(5)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person wilfully alters, suppresses or destroys a document that the person has been required to produce under regulation 14.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Water Industry Designated Codes (Appeals to the Competition and Markets Authority) Regulations 2017.

Penalty

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

'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
17 March 2017
In force from
Not determined
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 set up a right of appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) against a decision (an “Authority decision”) by the Water Services Regulation Authority (the “Authority”) to revise or not to revise a code designated for the purposes of section 207A(2) of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56) (the “Act”). The relevant codes are designated in regulation 3 and are listed in a table in the Schedule. Regulation 4(2) provides a list of persons that can appeal an Authority decision, and regulation 4(3) provides that such a person requires the permission of the CMA to bring an appeal. Regulation 5 sets out the decisions against which a right of appeal is excluded. Regulation 6 sets out the procedure for applications for permission to appeal. Regulation 7 allows the CMA to direct that a person be added to an appeal as an intervener, provided that they would have been entitled, at the time of the application, to make their own application to bring an appeal against the Authority decision. Regulation 8 allows the CMA on application to suspend the Authority decision appealed against pending determination of the appeal. Regulation 9 provides the time limit for the making of representations and observations by the Authority to the CMA about the Authority decision appealed against. Regulation 10 makes provision in relation to the composition and decision making process of any CMA Group established to determine an appeal. Regulation 11 provides a timetable for the determination of an appeal. For the purposes of determining an appeal, the CMA may require by notice the production of documents (regulation 14), an oral hearing to be held (regulation 15) or written statements to be produced (regulation 16). Regulation 17 sets out the penalties for failing to comply with such a notice, making false statements, providing false information or wilfully altering, suppressing or destroying documents which are required to be produced. Regulation 18 provides for the determination of an appeal, including the grounds on which the CMA may allow the appeal (see regulation 18(2)). Regulation 19 permits the CMA to make orders for costs in connection with an appeal. Regulation 20 sets out two consequential amendments to Schedule 4 to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (c. 24) to allow for the appointment of CMA panel members for the purposes of these Regulations. Impact assessments were prepared in respect of the Water Act 2014 and copies can be obtained from the Water Services Team, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Area 3D, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. These impact assessments are published alongside the Water Act 2014 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