Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017 section 71

Double jeopardy

Section 71 establishes a protection against being punished twice for the same conduct — once through a criminal conviction and again through a civil penalty.

• A person cannot be given a penalty under the penalties chapter of the Act if they have already been convicted of a criminal offence for the same matter.
• This reflects the well-established legal principle of double jeopardy — no one should be punished twice for the same wrongdoing.
• The protection applies to any penalty within this chapter, covering all the various civil penalty provisions in the Act.
• In practice, the Welsh Revenue Authority must choose between pursuing a criminal prosecution or imposing a civil penalty — it cannot do both for the same conduct.