Power to enter premises, etc.

article 35(8) of Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980

• In force
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Summary only
• Miscellaneous

The instrument creating this offence has not been revoked so far as the data shows.

What the provision says

8 Anyone who—

a obstructs any authorised person in the performance of anything which that person is required or authorised to do under this Article or by

a warrant issued under paragraph (3); or

b without reasonable excuse fails to give or knowingly mis-states any information required under paragraph (7); shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding £200.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds

a authorised person

Conduct

obstructing an official exercising a power

Fault element

Requires proof of a state of mind

Burden of proof

An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

is Article or by a warrant issued under paragraph (3); or b without reasonable excuse fails to give or knowingly mis-states any information required under paragraph (7); shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

What would breach article 35(8)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

1. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980.
2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial

Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court

Maximum fine

£200

Maximum prison (summary)

Not determined

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status

In force

Made

28 July 1980

In force from

Not determined

Extent

N.I.

How this was established: read from the revised (currently in force) text.

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Northern Ireland (Streets) Commons · 8 July 1980

  Resolved, That the draft Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, which was laid before this House on 25 June, be approved.

• Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 Lords · 17 July 1980
• Northern Ireland Commons · 4 June 1986

  . In Article 33 (security not to be deemed prior mortgage under Building Societies Acts) of the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 for the words from "section 32" where they first occur onwards there shall be substituted "section 11(2) (d) or (4) of the Building Societies Act 1986".

• Private Streets (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 Lords · 26 November 1992

  The noble Earl said: My Lords, the draft order amends the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, which is the legislative base dealing with all aspects of private streets matters in Northern Ireland. It contains provisions to amend the powers and duties of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, as road authority, and the responsibilities of developers in certain matters relating to the…

Other offences in the same instrument

• Prior provision to be made to meet street works expensesarticle 24(3)
• Standards for construction of streetsarticle 5(3)

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.72.

Basis

the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting

Confidence

0.72 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• MiscellaneousOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 1980