UK Offence Report

In regulation 7 (export and import of illegally removed Syrian cultural property), at the end insert— 4 A…

paragraph 7 of SCHEDULE 2 of The Syria (United Nations Sanctions) (Cultural Property) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020

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 In regulation 7 (export and import of illegally removed Syrian cultural property), at the end insert—

4 A person who contravenes

a prohibition in paragraph (1) or (2) commits an offence, but it is

a defence for

a person charged with the offence of contravening paragraph (1) or (2) to show that they did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect that the goods were illegally removed Syrian cultural property.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

The defence, as drafted

prohibition in paragraph (1) or (2) commits an offence, but it is a defence for a person charged with the offence of contravening paragraph (1) or (2) to show that they did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect that the goods were illegally removed Syrian cultural property.

What would breach paragraph 7 of SCHEDULE 2?

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 a prohibition in paragraph (1) or (2).
  2. Moving the goods across the border under the Syria (United Nations Sanctions) (Cultural Property) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 without the licence the instrument requires.
  3. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  4. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

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
16 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order extends with modifications the Syria (United Nations Sanctions) (Cultural Property) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1233) (“the Syria UN Regulations”) as amended from time to time to all British overseas territories except Bermuda and Gibraltar (which implement sanctions under their own legislative arrangements). Section 63(3)(c) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (c.13) (“the Sanctions Act”) provides that Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for any provision of Part 1 of that Act, or any regulations under Part 1 of that Act, to extend with or without modifications to any of the British overseas territories. Section 63(4) provides that this includes the power to extend any regulations as amended from time to time. The Syria UN Regulations were made under Part 1 of the Sanctions Act to establish a sanctions regime in relation to Syria for the purpose of compliance with the United Kingdom’s United Nations obligations in UN Security Council resolution 2199 adopted by the Security Council on 12 February 2015. The Syria UN Regulations replace the measures relating to Syrian cultural property in the European Union sanctions regime in relation to Syria implemented via an EU Council Decision and Regulation. The Syria UN Regulations, as modified and extended to the British overseas territories listed in Schedule 1 by this Order (“the modified Regulations”), impose trade restrictions on the trade in Syrian cultural property or any other item of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific or religious importance which was illegally removed from Syria on or after 15 March 2011. The modified Regulations provide for certain exceptions to this sanctions regime for acts done for the purpose of national security or the prevention of serious crime, and for the return to Syria of illegally removed Syrian cultural property as provided for in UN Security Council resolution 2199. The modified Regulations prescribe powers for the provision and sharing of information to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime. The modified Regulations also prescribe enforcement powers in relation to suspected ships, aircraft or vehicles, or for the issue of a search warrant. The modified Regulations make it a criminal offence to contravene, or circumvent, any of the prohibitions in the modified Regulations and prescribe the penalties that apply to such offences. This Order also extends to the territories for the purposes of the modified Regulations specific provisions of Part 1 of the Sanctions Act, namely provisions relating to protection for acts done for purposes of compliance, Crown application and saving for prerogative powers. An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument because the territorial extent of the instrument and the modified Regulations is the British overseas territories listed in Schedule 1, and no, or no significant, impact is foreseen on the private, voluntary or public sectors in the United Kingdom.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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