F1Pt. II amendment to earlier affecting provision 1982 c. 48, Sch 13 para. 7 (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 416(1), Sch. 24 para. 72(2) (with Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2
31.—(1) If an individual in furnishing a statement in pursuance of a financial circumstances order under Article 30 or a person who is charged with an offence in furnishing a statement of his financial circumstances in response to an official request—
(a)makes a statement which he knows to be false in a material particular;
(b)recklessly furnishes a statement which is false in a material particular; or
(c)knowingly fails to disclose any material fact,
he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to both.
(2) For the purposes of this Article an official request is a request which—
(a)is made by the clerk of petty sessions or the chief clerk, as the case may be; and
(b)is expressed to be made for informing the court, in the event of his being convicted, of his financial circumstances for the purpose of determining the amount of any fine the court may impose.
(3) Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Article may, notwithstanding anything in Article 19(1)(a) of the [1981 NI 26.] Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (limitation of time), be commenced at any time within 2 years from the date of the commission of the offence or within 6 months from its first discovery by the prosecution, whichever period expires the earlier.
[F2(3) Where a person who is charged with an offence is under the age of[F3 18] years, this Article shall also apply to his parent or guardian and accordingly this Article shall have effect in relation to the parent or guardian of such a person as if—
(a)any reference to his financial circumstances were a reference to the finanical circumstances of his parent or guardian;
(b)the reference in paragraph (1) to a person who is charged with an offence were a reference to his parent or guardian;
(c)the reference in paragraph (2) to his being convicted were a reference to his being convicted and the court's deciding to make an order under Article 35 of Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 against his parent or guardian.]