Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences

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Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent

The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intentWounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent is triable only in the Crown Court...

Community order requirements

Community order requirementsCommunity order requirements are set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003), as amended by the Legal Aid,...

Causation and intervening acts in criminal cases

Criminal offences are generally divided into two categories: •conduct crimes, and •result crimesA conduct crime is a crime where only the forbidden...

Custody time limits

Coronavirus (COVID-19): This Practice Note contains guidance on subjects impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, the...

Practice notes

Common law offence of false imprisonment

The offence of false imprisonmentFalse imprisonment is a common law offence but it is more common as a civil action in tort (see Practice Note: False...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Football banning orders

What is a football banning order?A football banning order is a measure designed to prevent offenders travelling to football matches in England and...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Boiler room fraud

What is a boiler room fraud?Boiler rooms are the names ascribed to high pressure sales environments. The idea is that the sales environment creates...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Production orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Production ordersThe purpose of a production order is to obtain material relating to a known person or business, such as bank statements and...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Failing to surrender, absconding and breach of bail conditions

Bench warrantsThe Bail Act 1976 (BA 1976) provides that if a defendant fails to appear at court to answer bail, the court may issue a warrant for...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Corporate criminal liability

This Practice Note deals with what is meant by corporate liability in relation to criminal law. It covers establishing corporate liability, the...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Food hygiene remedial action and detention notices

What is a remedial action notice?A remedial action notice is used by enforcement authorities such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) or a local...

9th Nov

Scottish Law

Practice notes

Specific and basic intent

Specific intent—definitionOffences requiring specific intent are of two kinds:•where the mental element of the offence requires a purposive intent...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Obtaining excluded material and special procedure material under PACE 1984

Section 9 and Schedule 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) afford access to material that cannot be obtained by an application...

Produced in partnership with Paul Ozin QC and Alex Mills of 23 Essex Street Chambers 9th Nov

Practice notes

Conducting an appeal in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD)

Coronavirus (COVID-19): This Practice Note contains guidance impacted by the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020). CA 2020, among other measures, makes...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Application to dismiss

Application to dismissUnder paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA 1998), the defendant may (after the date when he is...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Civil tax fraud investigations—Code of Practice 9

Civil investigation of tax fraudHMRC’s published policy in respect of tax fraud states that HMRC will seek to use a civil rather than criminal...

Produced in partnership with Corker Binning 9th Nov

Practice notes

Local authorities—powers to investigate environmental crime

When do local authorities investigate environmental offences?Environmental offences cover a broad range of crimes which affect the surroundings we...

Produced in partnership with Laura Phillips of 6 Pump Court 9th Nov

Practice notes

Taking a conveyance without the owner's consent (TWOC)

Taking a conveyance without authority offenceTaking a conveyance without authority is committed when a person:•takes a conveyance without the owner's...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Handling stolen goods

The ‘handling’ offenceHandling stolen goods is an offence that is triable either way.The elements of the offence are:•dishonestly receiving the goods,...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Criminal trial held in the absence of the defendant

Coronavirus (COVID-19): This Practice Note contains guidance impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020) among other...

9th Nov

Most recent Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences content

Practice notes

PSC register—offences for non-compliance

Coronavirus (COVID-19) IMPACT: Certain aspects of the PSC regime are affected by temporary measures introduced to mitigate the consequences of the...

30th Nov

Q&As

Does a bankrupt commit a criminal offence if they do not disclose to their trustee in bankruptcy any new or increased income?

A bankrupt is subject to an ongoing duty to co-operate with their trustee in bankruptcy (trustee) pursuant to inter alia section 333 of the Insolvency...

Produced in partnership with Daniel Sejas of MHS Sprecher Grier 29th Nov

Practice notes

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020—temporary changes to the wrongful trading regime

What is the background to the temporary changes to the wrongful trading regime?The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting lockdowns and...

26th Nov

COVID-19

Practice notes

Wrongful trading claims under sections 214 and 246ZB of the Insolvency Act 1986

What is wrongful trading?Wrongful trading is a claim which arises under sections 214 (liquidation) and 246ZB (administration) of the Insolvency Act...

26th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Insider dealing

Insider dealing—the criminal offenceInsider dealing is the use of sensitive or privileged information that has not yet been released to the public in...

Produced in partnership with Joanna Dimmock, Tom Hickey and Fred Kelly of White & Case LLP 9th Nov

Practice notes

Privilege, money laundering and terrorist financing

Privilege is a vital consideration when deciding whether to make a suspicious activity report (SAR) to the National Crime Agency (NCA) under the...

9th Oct

Q&As

A company has submitted dormant accounts despite continuing to trade, and now has judgment against it in relation to unpaid debts. Has it committed an offence by continuing to trade whilst dormant?

A company cannot choose when or whether it is dormant. Whether or not a company is dormant depends on whether there have been any significant...

28th Sep

Q&As

What action can be brought under section 389 of the Companies Act 2006? Also, how can a director enforce their common law right to access company documents and information for a proper purpose?

Section 389 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)Section 389 the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) explicitly provides that where a company fails to comply...

28th Sep

Practice notes

Directors' duties and criminal liability

Tax liabilityCompanies resident in the United Kingdom are chargeable to corporation tax calculated on the basis of the company's annual profits. The...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Providing false information to an auditor and an auditor's right to information

Providing false statement to an auditorThe Director of a company must produce a report each financial year, unless the company is subject to the small...

26th Sep

Practice notes

The rule against acquisition of a company's own shares

The offence of acquisition of limited company's own shares The general rule is that a limited company must not acquire its own shares, whether by...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Privilege—joint and common interest privilege

This Practice Note considers the concepts of joint privilege (being joint retainer or joint interest privilege) and common interest privilege,...

26th Sep

In-house

Practice notes

Defending company clients after LASPO 2012

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained.The implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012...

26th Sep

Practice notes

False accounting and false statements under TA 1968

False accountingA person who falsifies or conceals information required for an accounting purpose, knowing that the information is misleading, may...

26th Sep

Practice notes

False representations to creditors

Under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986), it is a criminal offence for an officer of a company, past or present, to make false representations or...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Internal company fraud investigations

Preliminary stepsBefore any action is taken it is important to consider:•what is the event which has created the suspicion of fraud in the...

26th Sep

Practice notes

False representations to obtain approval for a company voluntary arrangement

The Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) creates a specific offence relating to fraud for the purposes of obtaining approval for a company voluntary...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Fraud in obtaining voluntary arrangements

False representation or fraud for purposes of obtaining creditors' approval The Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) creates a specific offence relating to...

26th Sep

Practice notes

Fraudulent trading under section 993 Companies Act 2006

Fraudulent tradingFraudulent trading is an offence prohibited by section 993 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). This offence is charged for offences...

26th Sep

Practice notes