UK Offence Report

General false statement offences

regulation 42(4) of The Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Company Law) Regulations 2024

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

4 After section 1112 of the Companies Act, as applied to LLPs by that regulations, insert— False statements: aggravated offence 1112A

1 It is an offence for

a person knowingly to—

a deliver or cause to be delivered to the registrar, for any relevant purpose,

a document that is misleading, false or deceptive in

a material particular, or

b make to the registrar, for any relevant purpose,

a statement that is misleading, false or deceptive in

a material particular.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly.

What would breach regulation 42(4)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Company Law) Regulations 2024.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
1 year

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664); 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

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
29 February 2024
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.

The Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (c. 12), provides for the creation of limited liability partnerships (“LLPs”) and for the making of regulations concerning them. These Regulations amend provisions of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1804, “2009 Regulations”) which apply to LLPs provisions of the Companies Act 2006 (c. 46) (“the 2006 Act”). The 2006 Act was significantly amended by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (“the 2023 Act”). These Regulations introduce new provisions into the 2009 Regulations which apply provisions of the 2006 Act and the 2023 Act, as well as modifying the 2009 Regulations’ application of certain the 2006 Act’s provisions, so they apply to LLPs. Part 1 of the Regulations contains general introductory provisions on citation, commencement and interpretation. The Regulations come into force when section 1 (the registrar’s objectives) of the 2023 Act comes into force. Part 2 of the Regulations amends the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000. Changes in regulation 3 and 4 are consequential and supplemental to changes introduced by regulations 16 and 14. Part 3 of the Regulations amends the 2009 Regulations. Chapter 1 of this Part contains general introductory provisions. Chapter 2 amends Part 3 of the 2009 Regulations (an LLP’s name) applying some provisions of Part 5 of the 2006 Act (a company’s name) to LLPs. Chapter 3 amends Part 4 of the 2009 Regulations (an LLP’s registered office) applying provisions of Part 6 of the 2006 Act (a company’s registered office and email address) to LLPs. Chapter 4 amends Part 5 of the 2009 Regulations (an LLP’s members) applying some provisions of Chapters 1 and 8 of Part 10 of the 2006 Act (a company’s directors) to LLPs. Chapter 5 amends Part 8 of the 2009 Regulations (an LLP’s annual return) applying some provisions of Part 24 of the 2006 Act (annual confirmation of accuracy of information on register) to LLPs. Chapter 6 introduces an amendment to Part 8A of the 2009 Regulations (an LLP’s register of people with significant control) applying provisions of Part 21A of the 2006 Act (information about people with significant control) to LLPs. Chapter 7 amends Part 13 of the 2009 Regulations (dissolution and restoration to the register) applying some provisions of Part 31 of the 2006 Act (dissolution and restoration to the register) to LLPs. Chapter 8 amends Part 15 of the 2009 Regulations (the registrar of companies) applying some provisions of Part 31 of the 2006 Act (the registrar of companies) to LLPs. Chapter 9 inserts a new regulation 79A into the 2009 Regulations, applying some provisions of Part 41 of the 2006 Act (business names) to LLPs. No impact assessment has been prepared in connection with these Regulations.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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