UK Offence Report

Obstruction

regulation 16(1) of Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

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 A person shall not—

a intentionally obstruct any person acting in the execution of these Regulations or Council Regulation 494/98;

b without reasonable cause, fail to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him for the purposes of his functions under these Regulations, or fail to comply with any notice served on him under these Regulations or Council Regulation 494/98; or

c furnish to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any information which he knows to be false or misleading, and any person who contravenes this regulation shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally.

What would breach regulation 16(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes this regulation.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Cattle Identification (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
10 August 1998
In force from
1 October 1998
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 Regulations.) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement in part: Title 1 of Council Regulation 820/97/EC establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (O.J. No. L117, 7.5.97, p. 1); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2628/97 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards transitional provisions for the start-up period of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L354, 30.12.97, p. 17); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2629/97 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards eartags, holding registers and passports in the framework of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L354, 30.12.97, p. 19); and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 494/98 (laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 820/97 as regards the application of minimum administrative sanctions in the framework of the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals (O.J. No. L60, 28.2.98, p. 78). Part I of the Regulations contains certain introductory provisions. Part II of the Regulations provides for the enforcement of Article 4 of Regulation 820/97/EC relating to double eartagging of cattle (regulation 3). They specify the form of eartag to be used (regulation 4), prohibit movement from a holding of an animal which is not properly tagged (regulation 5) and make provision for the removal and replacement of eartags (regulation 6). The Regulations also prohibit the alteration of eartags (regulation 7). They provide for tagging in the case of intra-Community trade and imports from third countries (regulations 8 and 9). They contain transitional provisions (regulation 10), place certain duties on market and slaughterhouse operators (regulations 11 and 12) and make provision for changes of eartag numbers (regulation 13). Part III of the Regulations deals with powers of inspectors and penalties. Breach of regulation 16 (obstruction) is punishable by a fine of level 5 on the standard scale or three months imprisonment for obstruction. For other offences under Part II or III of the Regulations the penalty is: on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both; on conviction on indictment, a fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

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