Article 12 Offence: false informationI1

A person who has attained voting age and provides false information in connection with an application to which article 6, 7, 9 or 11 applies is guilty of an offence.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), “false information” means a signature which—

the person whose signature it purports to be.

A person is not guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) if that person did not know and had no reason to suspect that the information was false.

Where sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an issue with respect to the defence under paragraph (3), the court must assume that the defence is satisfied unless the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that it is not.

A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) is liable on summary conviction to—

or both.

In relation to an offence committed after the commencement of section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003^f1, the reference in paragraph (5)(a) to 6 months must be taken to be a reference to 51 weeks.