UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020

article 20 of The Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2022

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

20 After paragraph 15I insert— 15J In regulation 29F (prohibition on port entry)— a in paragraphs (1) and (2), for “United Kingdom”, in both places it occurs, substitute “Territory”; b for paragraph (6) substitute— 6 In paragraph (5), a “designated person” means a person for the time being designated by the Secretary of State under regulation 5 (power to designate persons) (as it has effect in the United Kingdom) for the purposes of regulations 29F and 29H to 29J (ships: prohibition on port entry etc.) (as they have effect in the United Kingdom). 15K In regulation 29G (directions prohibiting port entry)— a in paragraphs (2), (3), (5) and (6), for “Secretary of State”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Governor”; b in paragraphs (3) and (7), for “United Kingdom”, in both places it occurs, substitute “Territory”; c after paragraph (6) insert— 6A The Secretary of State may direct the Governor to exercise any of the Governor’s powers under this regulation. 15L In regulation 29H (movement of ships)— a in paragraphs (1), (2), (4) and (5), for “Secretary of State”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Governor”; b after paragraph (5) insert— 5A The Secretary of State may direct the Governor to exercise any of the Governor’s powers under this regulation. c in paragraph (6), for the definition of “designated person” substitute— “designated person” means a person for the time being designated by the Secretary of State under regulation 5 (power to designate persons) (as it has effect in the United Kingdom) for the purposes of regulations 29F and 29H to 29J (ships: prohibition on port entry etc.) (as they have effect in the United Kingdom); . 15M In regulation 29I (detention of ships)— a in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), for “Secretary of State”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Governor”; b in paragraphs (4) and (6), for “United Kingdom”, in both places it occurs, substitute “Territory”; c after paragraph (7) insert— 7A The Secretary of State may direct the Governor to exercise any of the Governor’s powers under this regulation. d for paragraph (8) substitute— 8 Where a detention direction is given under this regulation in relation to a ship, an authorised officer may detain the ship. 8A If a ship in respect of which a detention direction has been given to the master proceeds to sea in contravention of the detention direction, the master of the ship commits an offence. 8B If a ship in respect of which a detention direction has been given to the master fails to comply with any requirements imposed by the direction, the master of the ship commits an offence. 8C The owner of a ship, and any person who sends to sea a ship, in respect of which an offence is committed under paragraph (8A) or (8B), if party or privy to the offence, also commits an offence under that paragraph. 8D Any reference in this regulation to proceeding to sea includes a reference to going on a voyage or excursion that does not involve going to sea, and references to sending to sea are to be construed accordingly. e for paragraph (10) substitute— 10 In this regulation, “designated person” means a person for the time being designated by the Secretary of State under regulation 5 (power to designate persons) (as it has effect in the United Kingdom) for the purposes of regulations 29F and 29H to 29J (ships: prohibition on port entry etc.) (as they have effect in the United Kingdom). 15N In regulation 29J (registration of ships in the United Kingdom)— a in the heading, for “United Kingdom” substitute “Territory”; b in paragraphs (1) and (2), for “Registrar”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Territory registrar”; c in paragraph (1), after “Secretary of State” insert “, by the Governor”; d in paragraph (2), after “Secretary of State” insert “or the Governor”; e in paragraph (3)— i before sub-paragraph (a) insert— za “the Territory registrar”, in relation to the Territory, means the person responsible for the registration of ships in the Territory; ; ii in sub-paragraph (a), for “register of British ships maintained by the Registrar” substitute “register of British ships in the Territory maintained by the Territory registrar”; iii for sub-paragraph (b) substitute— b “designated person” means a person for the time being designated by the Secretary of State under regulation 5 (power to designate persons) (as it has effect in the United Kingdom) for the purposes of regulations 29F and 29H to 29J (ships: prohibition on port entry etc.) (as they have effect in the United Kingdom); . 15O Omit regulation 29K (specification of ships) (including the heading). 15P For regulation 29L (notification and publicity where specification power used) substitute— Requirement to publish a list of specified ships 29L 1 Subject to paragraph (2), the Governor must— a publish a list of specified ships, and b keep the list up to date.

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 master
Conduct
failing to comply with a notice or direction
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 master 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 article 20?

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 master sends to sea a ship, in respect of which an offence is committed under paragraph (8A) or (8B), if party or privy to the offence, also.
  2. Being served with a notice under the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2022 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  3. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  4. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

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
14 December 2022
In force from
15 December 2022
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 makes amendments to the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/1271) (“the Principal Order”). The Principal Order extends with modifications the sanctions regime established by the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/600) (“the 2019 Regulations”) as amended from time to time to all British overseas territories except Bermuda and Gibraltar (which implement sanctions through their own domestic legislation). The 2019 Regulations have most recently been amended by the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/748) (“the 2022 amending regulations”), which made a number of changes, including: adding new purposes and designation criteria to the 2019 regulations, targeting the role of the Government of Belarus in supporting Russia’s actions in respect of Ukraine, as well as introducing a power to designate persons by description and related changes. widening the existing financial sanctions relating to Belarus and introducing a new prohibition on providing financial services for the purpose of foreign exchange reserve and asset management of the Central Bank of Belarus and the Ministry of Finance of Belarus and related persons; widening trade sanctions relating to Belarus, imposing new export restrictions on goods and technology relating to critical industry, quantum computing and oil refining, and luxury goods, while widening prohibitions in relation to dual-use goods and technology. New import restrictions were also imposed on mineral products, arms and related materiel, iron and steel. A range of related trade activities were prohibited, including technical assistance and financial services relating to certain other prohibited trade activities, and enabling or facilitating military activities. An existing prohibition on providing technical assistance to designated persons in relation to aircraft was widened to include technical assistance provided in relation to ships; adding new aircraft and shipping sanctions. Aircraft restrictions were widened so that it became an offence for certain Belarus-related aircraft to land in, or overfly, the UK, and for such aircraft to be registered in the UK. Part 5 also added shipping restrictions, prohibiting certain Belarus-related or other specified ships from entering UK ports or being registered in the UK, and providing powers to the Secretary of State to direct the movement and detention of such ships. making amendments to exceptions and licensing powers, including by adding new exceptions in respect of new trade provisions; making related changes to information and enforcement powers, and to Schedules. This Order makes the necessary amendments to the Principal Order to give effect in the relevant British overseas territories to those changes made to the 2019 sanctions regime by the 2022 amending regulations. An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this Order: the territorial extent of both this Order and the Principal Order is the British overseas territories listed in the Schedule to this Order and no, or no significant, impact is foreseen on the private, voluntary or public sector in the United Kingdom.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”; c06_offence_committed
Confidence
0.96 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