UK Offence Report

Finance: licensing offences

regulation 50(2) of The Somalia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 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

2 A person who purports to act under the authority of

a Treasury licence but who fails to comply with any condition of the licence 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 50(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 purports to act under the authority of a Treasury licence but who fails to comply with any condition of the licence.
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the Somalia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
25 June 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 in relation to Somalia for the purpose of giving effect to the United Kingdom’s international obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolutions, including, in particular, resolution 733 adopted by the Security Council on 23 January 1992, resolution 1844 adopted by the Security Council on 20 November 2008, resolution 2036 adopted by the Security Council on 22 February 2012, and resolution 2498 adopted by the Security Council on 15 November 2019. The Regulations also have the purpose of promoting the peace, stability and security of Somalia and related purposes. Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, the Regulations will replace the European Union sanctions regime in relation to Somalia which is currently implemented through and under an EU Council Decision and two Council Regulations. Part 2 of the Regulations provides that persons who are listed by the UN are designated persons for the purposes of these Regulations. It also confers a power on the Secretary of State to designate persons who are, or have been, involved in the commission of activities connected to terrorism, breaches of international humanitarian law or the commission of serious human rights violations or abuses in Somalia, and other acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia, or that obstruct or undermine the Federal Government of Somalia. Designated persons are subject to various sanctions measures set out in subsequent Parts of the Regulations. Part 3 of the Regulations provides for designated persons to be made subject to financial sanctions, including having their funds and/or economic resources frozen. Persons designated by the UN are “excluded persons” under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971, meaning generally that they must be refused leave to enter the United Kingdom and leave to remain in the United Kingdom, and any leave that has been granted is invalid. Part 4 of the Regulations provides that persons designated by the Secretary of State are also to be “excluded persons” for these purposes. Part 5 of the Regulations imposes trade restrictions in relation to Somalia in respect of military goods and military technology, charcoal, and improvised explosive devices (IED) components. It also imposes trade restrictions in relation to designated persons in respect of military goods and technology. The Regulations also impose restrictions on certain activities which enable or facilitate the conduct of armed hostilities in Somalia. 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, or to allow a person to make funds or economic resources available where necessary in connection with certain humanitarian assistance activities) 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 some of the trade sanctions. Schedule 3 to the Regulations sets out the purposes for which the Treasury may issue such licences. The Regulations prescribe powers for the provision and sharing of information to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime. The Regulations make it a criminal offence to contravene, or circumvent, any of the prohibitions in the Regulations and set out the penalties that apply to such offences. The Regulations prescribe the mode of trial and penalties that apply to offences under the Regulations. They also provide for the application of similar types of provision in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 to certain offences relating to trade. 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. Council Regulation (EU) No 356/2010 of 26 April 2010 (imposing certain restrictive measures against certain natural or legal persons, entities or bodies, in view of the situation in Somalia) and Council Regulation (EU) No 147/2003 of 27 January 2003 (concerning restrictive measures in respect of Somalia) are revoked by these Regulations. The Somalia (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2010, the Export Control (Somalia) Order 2011 and the Somalia (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2002 are also revoked by these Regulations. An amendment is also made by these Regulations to the Schedule to the United Nations and European Union Financial Sanctions (Linking) Regulations 2017. An Impact Assessment has not been produced for these Regulations, as they are intended to ensure existing sanctions remain in place following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. These Regulations are intended to deliver substantially the same policy effects as the existing European Union sanctions. 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

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

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