{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/petroleum-act-1998/section-5C",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/petroleum-act-1998/section-5C.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1998/17",
  "legislation_title": "Petroleum Act 1998",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/petroleum-act-1998",
  "path": "section/5C",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "5C",
  "heading": "Offences under section 5B: supplemental",
  "text": "(1) No proceedings for an offence under section 5B may be instituted in England and Wales except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.\n(2) No proceedings for an offence under section 5B may be instituted in Northern Ireland except—\n(a) by the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or\n(b) with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.\n(3) In the application of section 5B to Northern Ireland the reference in section 5B(6)(a) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.\n(4) In the application of section 5B to England and Wales in relation to an offence committed before 2 May 2022 the reference in section 5B(6)(a) to the general limit in a magistrates’ court is to be read as a reference to 6 months.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ss. 5A-5C inserted (26.1.2009) by Energy Act 2008 (c. 32), ss. 76, 110(2); S.I. 2009/45, art. 2(c)(i)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in s. 5C(1) substituted (27.3.2014) by The Public Bodies (Merger of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of Revenue and Customs Prosecutions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/834), art. 1(1), Sch. 2 para. 12"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words in s. 5C(4) substituted (28.4.2022) by The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 33) and Sentencing Act 2020 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/500), regs. 1(2), 5(1), Sch. Pt. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words in s. 5C(4) substituted (7.2.2023 at 12.00 p.m.) by The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/149), regs. 1(2), 2(1), Sch. Pt. 1"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/17/section/5C",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:23:00.843249+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}