UK Offence Report

1 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene Article 6(1); b to fail to give the notice required by…

article 23(1) of The Industrial Pollution Control (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 It is an offence for

a person—

a to contravene Article 6(1);

b to fail to give the notice required by Article 9(2);

c to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an enforcement notice or

a prohibition notice;

d without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with any requirement imposed under Article 17;

e without reasonable excuse,—

i to fail or refuse to provide facilities or assistance or any information or to permit any inspection reasonably required by an inspector in the execution of his powers or duties under Article 17; or

ii to prevent any other person from appearing before an inspector, or answering any question to which an inspector may require an answer, pursuant to Article 17(3);

f intentionally to obstruct an inspector in the exercise or performance of his powers or duties;

g to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by

a notice under Article 19(2);

h to make

a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in

a material particular, or recklessly to make

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular, where the statement is made—

i in purported compliance with

a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under any provision of this Order; or

ii for the purpose of obtaining the grant of an authorisation to himself or any other person or the variation of an authorisation;

i intentionally to make

a false entry in any record required to be kept under Article 7;

j with intent to deceive, to forge or use

a document issued or authorised to be issued under Article

7 or required for any purpose thereunder or to make or have in his possession

a document so closely resembling any such document as to be likely to deceive;

k falsely to pretend to be an inspector;

l to fail to comply with an order made by

a court under Article 26.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 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 (for the purpose of obtaining, intentionally, recklessly, with intent to).

“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: intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, for the purpose of obtaining; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

imposed by an enforcement notice or a prohibition notice; d without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with any requirement imposed under Article 17; e without reasonable excuse,— i to fail or refuse to provide facilities or assistance or any information or to permit any inspection reasonably required by an inspector in the execution of his p

What would breach article 23(1)?

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 Industrial Pollution Control (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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.

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
Status not determined
Made
26 November 1997
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision for the control of pollution arising from certain industrial and other processes.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

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

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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