UK Offence Report

1 A responsible person commits an offence (“a non-compliance offence”) where the responsible person fails…

regulation 10(1) of The Nuclear Security (Secretary of State Security Directions) Regulations 2018

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 responsible person commits an offence (“a non-compliance offence”) where the responsible person fails to—

a comply with

a security direction or further direction; or

b ensure that the responsible person’s officers, employees and contractors—

i are made aware of any measures given in the security direction or further direction which are relevant to those persons; and

ii take all steps necessary to comply with such measures.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 responsible person
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a responsible person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 10(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Nuclear Security (Secretary of State Security Directions) Regulations 2018, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
21 March 2018
In force from
1 October 2018
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 provide for the Secretary of State to give a direction (a “security direction”) in response to certain types of urgent security threat. The Secretary of State may direct those persons responsible for a civil nuclear site, nuclear or other radioactive material stored on part of a nuclear site, a nuclear construction site or other nuclear premises, the transport of nuclear material, or those persons holding sensitive nuclear information or equipment or software relating to uranium enrichment. The power to direct arises where the Secretary of State is satisfied that those premises or that material or information is at risk from an imminent threat of terrorism, espionage, sabotage or theft. It also arises where the Secretary of State is satisfied that there is an imminent threat of sensitive nuclear information or equipment or software relating to uranium enrichment being compromised or disclosed. Regulations 3 and 4 make provision for the Secretary of State to give a security direction to a responsible person, for the duration of a direction, and for the way in which a direction may be varied, including by extending its duration. Regulation 5 provides that a responsible person given a security direction must comply with that direction and must ensure that its officers, employees and contractors are made aware of any measures that are relevant to them, and that those officers, employees or contractors comply with those measures. Regulation 6 requires the Secretary of State to lay a memorandum before Parliament stating that a security direction has been given under these Regulations, and to provide a copy of any security direction to the Office for Nuclear Regulation. Regulation 7 provides for the application of these Regulations to United Kingdom and non-United Kingdom persons transporting nuclear material by ship. Regulation 8 provides for the Secretary of State to appoint enforcement officers for the purposes of enforcing these Regulations. It gives effect to the Schedule, which sets out the powers that may be exercised by those officers. Regulation 9 provides for the protection of information obtained by enforcement officers in the exercise of their powers, and for restrictions on disclosure of that information. Regulation 10 creates criminal offences for failure to comply with a direction, and failure to comply with enforcement officers’ instructions when they are investigating non-compliance, as well as other breaches under the Regulations. Regulation 11 provides for penalties in respect of those offences. Regulation 12 provides that, where a person commits an offence due to the act of another person, that other person may be charged in relation to the offence, whether or not the first mentioned person is prosecuted. Regulations 13 and 14 provide for the liability of officers of bodies corporate and partners in partnerships where an offence has been committed with their consent or connivance, or which is attributable to their neglect. Regulation 15 provides for these Regulations to be reviewed before the end of five years beginning with the day on which they come into force and for further reviews. The Schedule to these Regulations sets out the powers that may be given to enforcement officers. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. The Explanatory Memorandum to these regulations is available from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET and is published on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

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