Paragraph 12: Enforcement and offences
Paragraph 12 enables the regulations to confer functions on regulators with respect to compliance with, and enforcement of, the regulations. This includes conferring a power to arrange for preventative or remedial action to be taken at the expense of the persons carrying on a regulated activity and to arrange for the taking of samples or making copies of information. It also enables the regulations to authorise regulators to serve various notices on persons carrying on regulated activities.
It also enables the regulations to provide that regulators may require any person served with such a notice to pay the costs incurred up to the date of service of the notice. It enables the regulations to provide for enforcement of notices in the High Court. It enables the regulations to create offences and provide for defences and evidentiary matters and allows offences to be triable summarily only or on indictment. It also provides the maximum punishments for the offences that may be set out in the regulations and enables regulations to provide for a court to be able to order remedial action where a person has been convicted of an offence and for that person to pay to a regulator the investigation costs incurred by the regulator.