Failure to Comply with Notification Requirements (Section 91 Sexual Offences Act 2003)

Failure to Comply with Notification Requirements is an offence under s.91 Sexual Offences Act 2003, in Part 2 of the Act (notification and orders). A person commits the offence if he fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with section 83(1), 84(1), 84(4)(b), 85(1), 85A(2) or (6), 87(4), 89(2)(b) or 96ZB(3)(b) or any requirement imposed by regulations made under section 86(1), or notifies to the police, in purported compliance with section 83(1), 84(1), 85(1) or 85A(2) or (6) or such regulations, any information which he knows to be false (s.91(1)). A failure to comply is committed on the day the person first fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply and continues throughout any period during which the failure continues, but a person must not be prosecuted more than once in respect of the same failure (s.91(3)). Proceedings may be commenced in any court having jurisdiction in any place where the person charged resides or is found (s.91(4)). Maximum sentence: on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; on summary conviction, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both (s.91(2)).

In practice

This is an either-way offence: it may be tried at the magistrates' court or the Crown Court. Mode of trial depends on the seriousness and the defendant's election. The suspect must be cautioned in accordance with Code C PACE 1984 before any questions about the offence are put to them. Interviews must be audio-recorded (Code E) or, for indictable offences, may be visually recorded (Code F).