Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Strict liability definition

What does Strict liability mean? In practice, strict liability describes criminal or regulatory offences where the prosecution need not prove mens rea for one or more elements of the actus reus; once the prohibited conduct or state of affairs is established, liability follows. It is typically encountered in statutory “public welfare” or regulatory offences (for example, health and safety, environmental protection, food safety and some road traffic provisions), and in limited areas such as the age element in certain sexual offences. There is no single statutory definition. Whether an offence is of strict liability is determined by statutory wording as interpreted by the courts. Across England...

Failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion under the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (ss 45-46): corporate offences, associated persons, dual criminality and the ‘reasonable procedures’ defence

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

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This Practice Note discusses the two ‘failure to prevent’ corporate criminal offences created by the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA 2017):

CFA 2017, s 45 establishes the offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of a UK tax evasion offence(s) (UK tax evasion facilitation offence)
CFA 2017, s 46 establishes the offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of a foreign tax evasion offence(s) (foreign tax evasion facilitation offence)

Both offences impose Strict liability, with a ‘reasonable procedures’ Defence for those able to show they maintained reasonable procedures designed to prevent facilitation of the underlying tax evasion offences.

This Practice Note explains the components of each offence and the defences introduced by the CFA 2017.

The offences sit within a broader suite of measures aimed at combating tax evasion and its facilitation, both in the UK and worldwide. They are ideologically aligned with the civil and criminal enforcement measures introduced by the Finance Act 2016 to address offshore evasion. For additional detail, see Practice Notes: Enablers of offshore tax evasion—civil sanctions and Offshore tax evaders—criminal offences. In general terms, the two CFA 2017 offences are intended to make...

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Saba Naqshbandi

3 Raymond Buildings

Saba Naqshbandi KC is a leading specialist in health and safety, public inquiries and inquests, environmental and financial crime. She is known for her strategic, commercially focused approach and her outstanding written and oral advocacy.In her first year as King’s Counsel, Saba was named Chambers and Partners Health & Safety Silk of the Year 2025, a reflection of her renowned expertise. She is consistently recommended in the legal directories as a top-tier practitioner in health and safety, public inquiries and inquests, financial crime, and licensing....

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