UK Offence Report

Confidential information in certain cases where designation power used

regulation 9(6) of The Misappropriation (Sanctions) (EU Exit) 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

6 A person who contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (2) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 9(6)?

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 contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (2).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Misappropriation (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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
7 December 2020
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 for the purpose of deterring and providing accountability for the misappropriation of State funds from a country outside the United Kingdom. This instruments revokes a number of geographically specific regimes that were introduced by the EU in relation to misappropriation of State assets, namely: Council Regulation (EU) No 101/2011 of 4 February 2011 concerning Tunisia; Council Regulation (EU) No 270/2011 of 21 March 2011 concerning Egypt; and Council Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 of 5 March 2014 concerning Ukraine. It also revokes the corresponding implementing UK regulations. The Regulations confer a power on the Secretary of State to designate persons who are, or have been, involved in the misappropriation of State funds from a country outside the United Kingdom. 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. The Regulations provide for certain exceptions to this sanctions regime, in particular in relation to financial sanctions (for example to allow for frozen accounts to be credited with interest or other earnings) and also acts done for the purpose of national security or the prevention of serious crime. The Regulations also confer powers on the Treasury to issue licences in respect of activities that would otherwise be prohibited under the financial sanctions imposed by these Regulations. Schedule 2 to these Regulations sets out the purposes for which the Treasury may issue such licences to particular persons. 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 prescribe powers for the provision and sharing of information to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime. Council Regulation (EU) No 101/2011 of 4 February 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Tunisia; Council Regulation (EU) No 270/2011 of 21 March 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt; and Council Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 of 5 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine, are revoked by these Regulations. The Tunisia (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2011; the Egypt (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2011; and the Ukraine (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2014, are also revoked. An Impact Assessment has not been produced for these Regulations. The instrument is intended to deliver similar policy effect to the existing EU sanctions regimes following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. An impact assessment was, however, produced for the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/653271/Sanctions_and_Anti-Money_Laundering_Bill_Impact_Assessment_18102017.pdf.

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