What would breach article 14(6) of The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005?

Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Additional publicity for immediate report

Q: Is article 14(6) of The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

article 14(6) of The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005

Status not determined
Strict liability
Summary only
Education, social security, pensions and public services

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

6 A person who has the custody of an immediate report and—
a obstructs
a person in the exercise of
a right conferred by paragraph (2)(a) or (b), or
b refuses to supply
a copy of the report or of part of it (as the case may be) to
a person entitled to the copy by virtue of paragraph (2)(c), is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to
a fine not exceeding level
3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: Strict liability
Burden of proof: No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach article 14(6)?

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.

Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005.
Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
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: £1,000
Standard scale: Level 3
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

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.

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: Status not determined
Made: 19 July 2005
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

Part II of this Order makes new provision for the audit of district council accounts. Part III confers miscellaneous new powers on district councils and makes minor amendments to existing statutory provisions concerning such councils.

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.

Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 Lords · 14 June 2005 · Lord Rooker
My Lords, the main purpose of the draft Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 is to update and consolidate Northern Ireland law on local government audit, and to introduce provisions broadly in line with those already in force in England and Wales, through the enactment of Part 2 of the Audit Commission Act of 1998. This order seeks to extend the powers of local government auditors, and to bring Northern…
Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 Lords · 14 June 2005

Other offences in the same instrument

Additional publicity for immediate reportarticle 14(7)
Inspection of statements of accounts and auditors' reportsarticle 16(3)
Restriction on disclosure of informationarticle 27(3)
Restriction on disclosure of informationarticle 27(5)
Auditors' right to documents and informationarticle 7(5)

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 0.92.

Basis: the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence: 0.92 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.
The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Education, social security, pensions and public servicesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2005