UK Offence Report

General trade licences: inspection of records

regulation 75(5) of The Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023

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 commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person—

a intentionally obstructs an official in the performance of any of the official’s functions under this regulation, or

b fails to produce

a register, record or document when reasonably required to do so by an official under this regulation.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

5 A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person— a intentionally obstructs an official in the performance of any of the official’s functions under this regulation, or b fails to produce a register, record or document when reasonably required to do so by an official under this regulation.

What would breach regulation 75(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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

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
11 December 2023
In force from
14 December 2023
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 Iran for the purpose of encouraging the Government of Iran to comply with international human rights law and to respect human rights and to deter the Government of Iran or an armed group backed by the Government of Iran from conducting hostile activity against the United Kingdom and other countries. The Regulations revoke and replace the Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Part 2 of the Regulations confers a power on the Secretary of State to designate persons who are, or have been, involved in the commission of serious human rights violations or abuses in Iran or involved in hostile activity against the United Kingdom and other countries for the purposes of financial, director disqualification, immigration or shipping sanctions. 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. Part 4 of the Regulations provides for designated persons to be made subject to director disqualification sanctions for the purpose of disqualifying those persons from being a director of a company or directly or indirectly taking part in or being concerned in the promotion, formation or management of a company. Part 5 of the Regulations provides that designated persons are “excluded persons” for the purposes of section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971 (c. 77), 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 6 of the Regulations imposes trade restrictions on specified goods and technology which may be used to repress the civilian population of Iran (as specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations) and on specified goods and technology (as specified in Schedule 3 to these Regulations) which may be used for interception and monitoring services in Iran. A further trade sanction that is imposed by these Regulations is to prohibit the provision of interception and monitoring services to, or for the benefit of, the Government of Iran. Part 6 also imposes trade restrictions on specified goods and technology which may be used by Iran to build and improve their unmanned aerial vehicle systems (as specified in Schedule 4 to these Regulations). Part 7 of the Regulations prohibits ships owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person, or where they are a specified ship, from entering ports in the United Kingdom. There is a notification and publicity requirement where the specification power is used. The Regulations provide the Secretary of State with a power to control the movement of ships owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person, or specified ships, by requiring them to leave or enter specified ports, proceed to a specified place or remain where they are. The Regulations also confer powers on the Secretary of State and harbour authorities to detain ships owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person, or specified ships, at ports or anchorages. The registration of ships on the UK Ship Register is prohibited where they are owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person, or where they are a specified ship. Part 8 of the Regulations provides 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) 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, director disqualification and trade sanctions imposed. Schedule 5 to these Regulations sets out the purposes pursuant to which the Treasury will issue such licences. Part 9 of the Regulations confers powers for obtaining and disclosing information to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the sanctions regime, and imposes obligations on various persons to report relevant information to the appropriate (specified) authorities. In Part 10, 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 (c. 2) to certain offences related to trade. Part 11 of the Regulations confers 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. Part 12 of the Regulations contains supplementary provision, including transitional provision for licences issued under previous legislation to continue to have effect and, where the designated person was previously designated under another enactment, for the provisions relating to prior obligations to be read in accordance with the date that the designated person was first designated. Existing designations made under the Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 are saved and treated as made under regulation 5 of these Regulations. A full impact assessment has not been produced for the Regulations as no, or no significant, impact is foreseen on the private, voluntary or public sectors in the United Kingdom. A de minimis assessment has been prepared as this instrument is likely to entail some costs for businesses, but the net impact is estimated to be below £10 million per year.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

Both Houses had to approve this instrument before it could take effect, and did so.

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