UK Offence Report

Finance: information offences

regulation 74(1) of The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

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, if that person—

a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within

a reasonable time) to comply with any request under regulation 72 (finance: powers to request information);

b knowingly or recklessly gives any information, or produces any document, which is false in

a material particular in response to such

a request;

c with intent to evade any provision of regulation

72 or 73 (finance: production of documents), destroys, mutilates, defaces, conceals or removes any document;

d otherwise intentionally obstructs the Treasury in the exercise of their powers under regulation

72 or 73.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly, with intent to).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 A person commits an offence, if that person— a without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within a reasonable time) to comply with any request under regulation 72 (finance: powers to request information); b knowingly or recklessly gives any informatio

What would breach regulation 74(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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

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
10 April 2019
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 are made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (c.13) to establish a sanctions regime under that Act in relation to Russia. These Regulations are made for the purpose of encouraging Russia to cease actions destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine. Following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, these Regulations will replace the EU sanctions regimes in relation to Russia. The EU sanctions regimes are currently implemented via EU Council Decisions and Regulations. The Regulations confer a power on the Secretary of State to designate persons who are, or have been, involved in destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine. Designated persons may be excluded from the United Kingdom and may be made subject to financial sanctions, including having their funds or economic resources frozen. These Regulations also impose restrictions on trade in military goods and technology, on certain dual-use and energy-related items, and impose restrictions on supplying infrastructure-related goods and technology to Crimea and on importing goods from Crimea. These Regulations also restrict the provision of services related to the trade in those items. The Regulations also restrict persons from dealing with certain financial instruments, restrict the provision of finance and funds, and restrict investment in relation to Crimea. The Regulations provide for certain exceptions to this sanctions regime, including in relation to financial sanctions (for example to allow for frozen accounts to be credited with interest or other earnings), trade sanctions and also acts done for the purpose of national security or the prevention of serious crime. The Regulations also confer powers on the Secretary of State and the Treasury to issue licences in respect of activities that would otherwise be prohibited under the financial and trade sanctions imposed. Schedule 5 of these Regulations sets out the purposes pursuant to which the Treasury will issue such licences. The Regulations make it a criminal offence to contravene, or circumvent, any of the prohibitions in these Regulations and prescribe the mode of trial and penalties that apply to such offences. The Regulations also confer powers on specified maritime enforcement officers to stop and search ships in international and foreign waters for the purpose of enforcing specified trade sanctions and to seize goods found on board ships which are being, or have been, dealt with in contravention, or deemed contravention, of those prohibitions. The Regulations prescribe powers for the provision and sharing of information to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime. The Regulations revoke the relevant EU Regulations relating to the existing EU Russia sanctions regimes, in so far as those Regulations would have had effect in the UK after exit day. The Regulations also revoke existing UK trade and financial sanctions regulations relating to the existing EU Russia sanctions regimes.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

Both Houses had to approve this instrument before it could take effect, and did so.

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 →

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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