The Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Regulations 1992

Offences

Supplying, putting into service, connecting or permitting to remain connected equipment in contravention of regulation 8 or 12

70.—(1) Any person who—

(a) supplies;

(b) puts into service; or

(c) connects, or permits to remain connected to a public telecommunications network,

applicable terminal equipment in contravention of regulation 8 above shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who—

(a) supplies; or

(b) puts into service;

connection-capable equipment or radio connection-capable equipment to which paragraph (1) of regulation 12 above applies in contravention of that paragraph shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Any person who connects, or permits to remain connected connection-capable equipment or radio connection-capable equipment to a public telecommunications network in contravention of regulation 12(3) above shall be guilty of an offence.

Contravention of prohibition notice or suspension notice

71.  Any person who contravenes a prohibition notice or a suspension notice shall be guilty of an offence.

False or misleading information

72.  Any person who, in giving any information which he is required to give under regulation 69(c) or (d) above—

(a) makes any statement which he knows is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(b) recklessly makes any statement which is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence.

Misuse of the CE mark etc.

73.—(1) Any person who affixes the CE mark or the connection symbol, or the non-connection symbol, or an inscription liable to be confused with any such mark, to any equipment in contravention of regulation 10(2) or 12(1) or (2) above shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who issues an EC declaration of conformity to type or an EC declaration of conformity in relation to applicable terminal equipment in contravention of regulation 36 or 48 above shall be guilty of an offence.

Obstruction etc of officers of the enforcement authority etc.

74.—(1) Any person who—

(a) intentionally obstructs any officer of the enforcement authority who is acting in pursuance of any provision of this Part;

(b) intentionally fails or refuses to comply with any requirement made of him by any officer of the enforcement authority under any provision of this Part;

(c) without reasonable cause fails or refuses to give any officer of the enforcement authority who is so acting any other assistance which the officer may reasonably require of him for the purposes of the exercise of the officer’s functions under any provision of this Part; or

(d) fails to comply with a court order under regulation 81 below,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who falsely pretends to be an officer of the enforcement authority shall be guilty of an offence.

Failure to retain documentation

75.  Any person who contravenes regulation 11 above shall be guilty of an offence.

Defence of due diligence

76.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, in proceedings against any person for an offence under regulation 70 or 73 above it shall be a defence for that person to show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.

(2) Where in any proceedings against any person for such an offence the defence provided by paragraph (1) above involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due—

(a) to the act or default of another; or

(b) to reliance on information given by another,

that person shall not, without the leave of the court, be entitled to rely on the defence unless, not less than seven clear days before the hearing of the proceedings (or, in Scotland, the trial diet), he has served a notice under paragraph (3) below on the person bringing the proceedings.

(3) A notice under this paragraph shall give such information identifying or assisting in the identification of the person who committed the act or default or gave the information as is in the possession of the person serving the notice at the time he serves it.

(4) It is hereby declared that a person shall not be entitled to rely on the defence provided by paragraph (1) above by reason of his reliance on information supplied by another, unless he shows that it was reasonable in all the circumstances for him to have relied on the information, having regard in particular—

(a) to the steps which he took, and those which might reasonably have been taken, for the purpose of verifying the information; and

(b) to whether he had any reason to disbelieve the information.

Liability of persons other than the principal offender

77.—(1) Where the commission by any person of an offence under regulations 70 to 75 above is due to the act or default committed by some other person in the course of any business of his, the other person shall be guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished by virtue of this paragraph whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

(2) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under these Regulations (including where it is so guilty by virtue of paragraph (1) above) in respect of any act or default which is shown 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 he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(3) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (2) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

(4) In this regulation, references to a “body corporate” include references to a partnership in Scotland and, in relation to such partnership, any reference to a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a body corporate is a reference to a partner.

Extension of time for bringing summary proceedings

78.  Notwithstanding section 127 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 and section 331 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975(1), proceedings for an offence under regulations 70 to 75 above may be commenced at any time within three years from the date of the offence, or one year from the date on which there comes to the knowledge of the prosecutor evidence sufficient to justify a prosecution for that offence, whichever is the earlier; and for the purposes of this regulation—

(a) a certificate of the prosecutor stating that such evidence came to his knowledge on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of that fact; and

(b) a document purporting to be such a certificate and to be signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor shall be presumed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.

Inference of condition of equipment at time of supply or putting into service

79.  It is hereby declared that, in any proceedings in which it is in issue whether any applicable terminal equipment complied with the requirements of regulation 8 above at the time when it was supplied, put into service or connected to a public telecommunications network as the case may be, a court may infer that such equipment did not so comply at that time if—

(a) it is proved that it does not so comply or did not so comply at a time subsequent to its having been supplied, put into service or so connected; and

(b) having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it appears to the court that the failure of the equipment to comply at the time referred to in paragraph (a) above is not attributable to any cause arising subsequent to its having been supplied, put into service or so connected.

(1)

1975 c. 21.