Fire (Scotland) Act 2005

Valid from 01/10/2006

72 Offences S

(1) If—

(a) a person fails to carry out a duty to which the person is subject by virtue of—

(i) section 53;

(ii) section 54; or

(iii) section 55; and

(b) the failure to carry out the duty in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,

the person shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) If—

(a) an employee fails to carry out a duty to which the employee is subject by virtue of section 56; and

(b) the failure to carry out the duty in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,

the employee shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) If—

(a) a person fails to comply with a requirement or prohibition to which the person is subject by virtue of regulations made under section 57 or 58; and

(b) the failure to comply with the requirement or prohibition in question puts a relevant person at risk of death, or serious injury, in the event of fire,

the person shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) It shall be an offence for a person—

(a) to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement imposed by an enforcement officer under section 62(2)(c);

(b) falsely to pretend to be an enforcement officer;

(c) intentionally to obstruct an enforcement officer in the carrying out of the officer's functions under this Part;

(d) intentionally to obstruct a person taken by virtue of section 62(2)(b) onto relevant premises;

(e) to fail to comply with a restriction or prohibition imposed by a prohibition notice;

(f) to fail to comply with a requirement imposed by—

(i) an enforcement notice; or

(ii) an alterations notice;

(g) to contravene section 68;

(h) to make in any register, book, notice or other document required by virtue of this Part to be kept, served or given an entry which the person knows to be false in a material particular;

(i) to give any information which the person knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly to give any information which is false in a material particular, where the information is given in purported compliance with a requirement to give information imposed by virtue of this Part.

(5) [F1 Subject to subsection (5A),]F1 a person guilty of an offence under subsection (1), (3) or (4)(e) or (f) shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £20,000;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.

[F2 (5A) Where a person is guilty of an offence under subsection (1), (3) or (4)(e) or (f) in respect of relevant premises which are–

(a) a ship;

(b) premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown;

(c) premises occupied solely by any visiting force or an international headquarters or defence organisation designated for the purposes of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964 (c. 5); or

(d) premises which are situated within premises occupied solely for the purposes of the armed forces of the Crown but which are not themselves so occupied,

paragraph (a) of subsection (5) shall apply as if for “£20,000” there were substituted level 5 on the standard scale.]

F2 (6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(7) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4)(a), (c), (d), (g), (h) or (i) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4)(b) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(9) Subject to subsection (10), it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that the person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

(10) Subsection (9) shall not apply in relation to—

(a) an offence under subsection (1) in respect of a failure to comply with the duty mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection;

(b) an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is reasonably practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition.

(11) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) in respect of a failure to comply with the duty mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection, the onus of showing that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.

(12) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition, the onus of showing that it was not practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.

(13) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) in respect of a failure to comply so far as is reasonably practicable with a requirement or, as the case may be, a prohibition, the onus of showing that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was done shall be on the accused.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 72(5) inserted (22.7.2005) by The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2060), arts. 1(2)(d)(e), 2(5)(a)

F2 S. 72(5A) inserted (22.7.2005) by The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2060), arts. 1(2)(d)(e), 2(5)(b)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 72(3)(a) modified (1.10.2006) by The Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/456), reg. 24(3)(c)