UK Offence Report

1 A person who contravenes regulations 4, 5(1), 6(1), 7(1) or 8(1) is guilty of an offence.

regulation 9(1) of The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016

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

1 A person who contravenes regulations 4, 5(1), 6(1), 7(1) or 8(1) is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 9(1)?

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 contravenes regulations 4, 5(1), 6(1), 7(1) or 8(1).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016, 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)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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 March 2016
In force from
15 March 2016
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, made under sections 92 and 219(2) of the Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57) and section 62 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (c. 13), require a person having custody or control of oil in certain specified cases to comply with certain requirements as to the manner in which the oil is stored and handled. The Regulations apply in relation to Wales. The Regulations also replace provision currently made in relation to agricultural fuel oil by the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Wales) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1493). Regulation 1 makes provision (among other things) about commencement. The Regulations come into force on 15 March 2016, except for cases where a container is already in use on that date. In those cases later dates are specified in regulation 1. Regulation 2 defines terms used in the Regulations and Regulation 3 makes provision about the scope of the Regulations. Regulation 4 sets out requirements in relation to oil storage containers and regulation 5 sets out requirements in relation to secondary containment systems. Regulation 6 sets out requirements in relation to fixed tanks and regulation 7 sets out requirements in relation to underground pipes associated with fixed tanks. Regulation 8 sets out requirements in relation to mobile bowsers. Regulation 9 creates a criminal offence of failure to comply with any requirement in regulations 4 to 8 and regulation 10 permits the Natural Resources Body for Wales, as regulator, to impose civil sanctions in relation to that offence. Regulation 11 provides that Natural Resources Wales may enforce these Regulations. Regulation 12 amends the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Wales) Regulations 2010 by removing requirements as to agricultural fuel oil from those Regulations. Those Regulations are accordingly renamed (see regulation 12(2)). A draft of these Regulations has been notified to the European Commission as a technical standard, pursuant to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No l204, 21.7.98, p 37) laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, as amended. The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

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 0.92.

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