UK Offence Report

Processing of information provided in connection with an identity document application

regulation 14(5) of The Voter Identification Regulations 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

5 A person who discloses information in breach of paragraph (4) is guilty of an offence and liable—

a on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years, or to

a fine (or both);

b on summary conviction—

i in England and Wales, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding the general limit in

a magistrates’ court, or to

a fine (or both);

ii in Scotland, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding

12 months or to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 14(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 a person discloses information in breach of paragraph (4).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Voter Identification Regulations 2022, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
1 year

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland; imprisonment expressed as the general limit in a magistrates' court (Sentencing Act 2020 s.224(1A)); 12 months as at the latest change. Note the limit is keyed to the date of conviction, while the standard scale is keyed to the date of the offence, so a single date is an approximation here; imprisonment expressed as the general limit in a magistrates' court (Sentencing Act 2020 s.224(1A)); 12 months as at the latest change. Note the limit is keyed to the date of conviction, while the standard scale is keyed to the date of the offence, so a single date is an approximation here; imprisonment expressed as the general limit in a magistrates' court (Sentencing Act 2020 s.224(1A)); 12 months as at the latest change. Note the limit is keyed to the date of conviction, while the standard scale is keyed to the date of the offence, so a single date is an approximation here; imprisonment expressed as the general limit in a magistrates' court (Sentencing Act 2020 s.224(1A)); 12 months as at the latest change. Note the limit is keyed to the date of conviction, while the standard scale is keyed to the date of the offence, so a single date is an approximation here; imprisonment expressed as the general limit in a magistrates' court (Sentencing Act 2020 s.224(1A)); 12 months as at the latest change. Note the limit is keyed to the date of conviction, while the standard scale is keyed to the date of the offence, so a single date is an approximation here.

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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 13851 — 13851 - Summary offences relating to the Voter Identification Regulations 2022. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
22 December 2022
In force from
Not determined
Extent
E+W+S

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 make provision related to the requirement for voters to present photographic identification when voting at polling stations at UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain. These Regulations also create a similar requirement for persons voting at polling stations at Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales, and local government elections and referendums in England, and a similar requirement for persons signing a recall petition held in Great Britain under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 (c. 25) when signing the petition at a petition signing place. Part 2 makes provision as to the content of applications for electoral identity documents made under section 13BD of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) (“the 1983 Act”) and of applications for anonymous elector’s documents under section 13BE of the 1983 Act (together “identity document applications”). Part 2 also makes provision as to the manner in which identity document applications can be made, and as to the verification of information provided in an identity document application by the registration officer using information or evidence from other sources. Part 3 makes provision as to the determination of these applications, including the circumstances in which determination must be postponed (regulation 10), provision relating to an appeal against a refusal of an application (regulation 12) and the processing of information contained within or connected to an identity document application following determination (regulation 14). Part 4 makes provision related to anonymous elector’s documents, electoral identity documents and temporary electoral identity documents. Regulation 15 requires the Electoral Commission to create designs of those documents for use by registration officers. Regulations 16 and 17 relate to the issuing and delivery or collection of anonymous elector’s documents and electoral identity documents. Regulations 18 and 19 make provision about issuing temporary electoral identity documents. Regulation 20 sets out the requirements of the record of anonymous elector’s documents and electoral identity documents to be kept by registration officers, and regulations 21 to 23 contain restrictions upon the supply, disclosure or use of information from that record. Regulation 24 creates a criminal offence for failure to comply with those restrictions. Part 5 makes further provision in relation to anonymous elector’s documents. Regulations 25 and 26 require registration officers to issue reminders to electors with anonymous entries on a register of parliamentary electors in Great Britain or a register of local government electors in England or Wales regarding the need for an anonymous elector’s document in order to vote in person or sign a recall petition signing sheet in person. Regulations 27 to 30 make provision about the replacement of anonymous elector’s documents by registration officers in certain circumstances. Part 6 prescribes the form of the ballot paper refusal list for UK parliamentary elections (regulation 31), and the circumstances in which a ballot paper refusal list completed in relation to an election or a signing sheet refusal list completed in relation to a recall petition can be inspected and information recorded in that list disclosed (regulation 32). Part 7 makes provision about the collection and collation of information relating to certain elections which is to be used by the Secretary of State for the preparation of reports on voter identification requirements in pursuance of section 59A of the 1983 Act. Part 8 makes amendments to Part 6 of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986 (S.I. 1986/1111) and Schedule 2 to the Representation of the People (Combination of Polls) (England and Wales) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/294), which modify the parliamentary elections rules set out in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act where the poll for a UK parliamentary election is combined with one or more other polls in England and Wales and Scotland respectively. Part 9 makes amendments to the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/341) and the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/497), including amendments providing for emergency applications to be made by voters to vote by proxy on grounds relating to voter identification. Part 10 amends various instruments to make equivalent amendments to election, referendum and recall petition rules to those made to the UK parliamentary election rules in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act by Schedule 1 to the Elections Act 2022 (c. 37), and, in relation to Police and Crime Commissioner elections and recall petitions, equivalent amendments to those made by Part 9 of these Regulations providing for emergency proxy applications to be made on grounds relating to voter identification. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector and community bodies is available from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF and published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

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 is “guilty of 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