UK Offence Report

7 A person who knowingly— a gives false information pursuant to regulation 2(2)(a)(ii), (b), (c)(ii) or (d);…

regulation 11(7) of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 (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

7 A person who knowingly—

a gives false information pursuant to regulation 2(2)(a)(ii), (b), (c)(ii) or (d); or

b falsely states, when asked by

a person specified for the purpose of regulation 2(4), to that person that someone is

a close contact of

a person who has tested positive for coronavirus, commits an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (knowingly).

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: knowingly.

What would breach regulation 11(7)?

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 has tested positive for coronavirus.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'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
27 September 2020
In force from
28 September 2020
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.

Part 1 of these Regulations impose self-isolation requirements in relation to persons who have tested positive for coronavirus and their contacts. Regulation 4 amends the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Collection of Contact Details etc and Related Requirements) Regulations 2020 to— a amend the definition of local authority so that where there are two tier authorities, a District Council may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice. b provide that in addition to the Secretary of State, a relevant person must also disclose any details he has retained pursuant to the Regulations to a Public Health Officer, on request of that Public Health Officer. c provide that it is an offence not to comply with a requirement in regulations 14 and 16 of the Regulations. d amend the fixed penalty notice amounts. In particular for the third breach the amount of any notice is to be £4,000 and for the fourth and any subsequent breach, it is £10,000. e amend the Schedule to make clear that gyms are included as a listed service. Part 2— a prohibits an employer from allowing a worker to attend any place (except the place where they are required to self-isolate) for any purpose connected to the worker’s employment; b sets out the prohibition on knowingly allowing a self-isolating worker or a self-isolating agency worker to be present anywhere for work purposes, other than the place where they are required to self-isolate; c requires a self-isolating worker to inform their employer of the requirement on them to self-isolate; and d requires a self-isolating agency worker to inform either their employer, the agency or the principal of the requirement on them to self-isolate. It requires whoever has received such a notification to pass the information on to the two other parties. Part 3 provides for enforcement, in particular as to offences and fixed penalty notices, as well as disclosure of information. It also provides for the review and expiry of these Regulations.

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 →

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