UK Offence Report

Penalties for offences

regulation 80(3) 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

3 A person who commits an offence under regulation 9(6) (confidentiality), 68 (trade: licensing offences), 76(6) (general trade licences: records) or 77(5) (general trade licences: inspection of records) is liable—

a on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

12 months or

a fine (or both);

b on summary conviction in Scotland, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

12 months or

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both);

c on summary conviction in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

6 months or

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both);

d on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

2 years or

a fine (or 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 80(3)?

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 Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
1 year

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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”; c10_offence_under_parent_act
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