The Zimbabwe (Freezing of Funds and Economic Resources) Regulations 2004

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Zimbabwe (Freezing of Funds and Economic Resources) Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 19th March 2004.

(2) In these Regulations—

“body corporate” includes a Scottish partnership and, in relation to such a partnership, any reference to a director of a body corporate is a reference to a partner; and

“the EC Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 314/2004 of 19th February 2004 concerning certain restrictive measures in respect of Zimbabwe(1).

Breaches of the EC Regulation

2.—(1) Any person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse commits a breach of Article 6(1) of the EC Regulation;

(b) commits a breach of Article 6(2) of the EC Regulation; or

(c) commits a breach of Article 6(3) of the EC Regulation;

is guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse fails to comply with Article 8(1) of the EC Regulation; or

(b) uses information in breach of Article 8(3) of the EC Regulation;

is guilty of an offence.

Requests for authorisations etc

3.  Any person who, in connection with a request for an authorisation pursuant to Article 7(1) of the EC Regulation—

(a) makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which to his knowledge is false in a material particular; or

(b) recklessly makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which is false in a material particular;

is guilty of an offence.

Information

4.  The Schedule to these Regulations has effect in order to facilitate the obtaining by or on behalf of the Treasury or the Bank of England of information for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the EC Regulation.

Penalties and proceedings

5.—(1) Any person guilty of an offence under regulation 2(1) or 3 above or paragraph 2(b) or (c) of the Schedule to these Regulations is liable—

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or both;

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence under regulation 2(2), or paragraph 2(a) or 3(2) of the Schedule to these Regulations, is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.

(3) Where any body corporate is guilty of an offence under these Regulations, and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person as well as the body corporate is guilty of that offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(4) Proceedings against any person for an offence under these Regulations may be taken before the appropriate court in the United Kingdom having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being.

(5) No proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, other than a summary offence, shall be instituted in England, Wales or Northern Ireland except by or with the consent of the Secretary of State, the Treasury or the Attorney General, or, as the case may be, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland:

Provided that this paragraph does not prevent the arrest, or the issue or execution of a warrant for the arrest, of any person in respect of such an offence, or the remand in custody or on bail of any person charged with such an offence, notwithstanding that the necessary consent to the institution of proceedings for the offence has not been obtained.

Jim Murphy

Nick Ainger

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

18th March 2004