UK Offence Report

Amendment to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Pre-Departure Testing and Operator Liability) (England)…

regulation 22(5) of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) (Amendment) (No. 7) Regulations 2021

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

5 In regulation 8 (offences)—

a in paragraph (1)—

i omit “or” at the end of sub-paragraph (a);

ii after that sub-paragraph, insert— aa regulation 6(1A), ab regulation 6(1B), or ;

b after paragraph (1) insert— 1A An operator who fails to comply with the requirement in regulation 7A(1) commits an offence. ;

c in paragraph (2), after “(1)” insert “or (1A)”;

d after paragraph (4) insert— 4A In addition, in relation to the offence in paragraph (1)(aa) or (ab), it is

a defence for an operator to show that the operator, or

a person acting on behalf of the operator, could not have reasonably been expected to know that the relevant information provided by

a passenger on their Passenger Locator Form was false or incorrect in any respect or incomplete. 4B For the purposes of paragraph (4A) “relevant information” means the information mentioned in regulation 6(1A) or 6(1B) (as the case may be). 4C In relation to the offence in paragraph (1A), it is

a defence for an operator to show that the operator, or

a person acting on behalf of the operator, could not have reasonably been expected to know that

a passenger was

a Schedule B1A passenger. .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an operator
Conduct
making a false or misleading statement
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 an operator 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.

The defence, as drafted

n, in relation to the offence in paragraph (1)(aa) or (ab), it is a defence for an operator to show that the operator, or a person acting on behalf of the operator, could not have reasonably been expected to know that the relevant information provided by a passenger on their Passenger Locator Form was false or incorrect in any respect or incomplete. 4B For

What would breach regulation 22(5)?

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 an operator fails to comply with the requirement in regulation 7A(1).
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) (Amendment) (No. 7) Regulations 2021.
  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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
12 February 2021
In force from
15 February 2021
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 amend various instruments containing measures for the protection of health in respect of the SARS-CoV-2 response. Regulations 3 to 19 amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (England) Regulations 2020 (“the International Travel Regulations”) so as to— a impose a requirement for travellers from countries listed in Schedule B1 to obtain a package comprising a booking for 10 days in accommodation designated by the Secretary of State, transportation to the accommodation and for tests for the coronavirus on day 2 and day 8 after the traveller’s arrival in England. Paragraph 2 of the Schedule to be inserted as Schedule B1A to the International Travel Regulations sets out exceptions to the obligation to obtain the package, and b impose requirements on travellers from outside the common travel area to obtain a testing package comprising a booking for two tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The first test is to be taken within two days of a traveller’s arrival in England and it is to be capable of permitting genomic sequencing of any sample. The second test is to be taken after seven days of the traveller’s arrival in England. Regulation 20 amends the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 to impose a requirement on diagnostic laboratories to report additional information where they process tests in accordance with the International Travel Regulations. Regulation 21 amends the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Public Health Information for Passengers Travelling to England) Regulations 2020 to update the information that operators are required to provide to passengers who arrive in England. Regulation 22 makes amendments to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Pre-Departure Testing and Operator Liability) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 in consequence of the amendments made to the International Travel Regulations so as to— a require persons operating commercial transport services (“operators”) for passengers travelling to England from outside the common travel area to ensure that passengers who arrive in England on such services have included in their Passenger Locator From details of the test booking arrangements and managed self-isolation package, b require persons operating travel services (including those providing flights by means of private aircraft) for passengers travelling to England from outside the common travel area to take reasonable steps to ensure that passengers to whom Schedule B1 to the International Travel Regulations applies arrive in England only at designated ports (see new regulation 7A), c create offences for the breach of those requirements, and d make consequential amendments. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. An explanatory memorandum has been published alongside this instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a vote to approve it. A motion to stop it being law 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 →

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”
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