UK Offence Report

3 Any person who intentionally obstructs an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations shall be…

regulation 6(3) of Welfare of Animals (Staging Points) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (revoked)

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

3 Any person who intentionally obstructs an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 6(3)?

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 intentionally obstructs an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Welfare of Animals (Staging Points) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
15 July 1999
In force from
30 August 1999
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 make provisions in Northern Ireland for the administration, execution and enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1255/97 (“the Council Regulation”) concerning Community criteria for staging points and amending the route plan referred to in the Annex to Council Directive 91/628/EEC (O.J. No. L174, 2.7.97, p. 1). The principal provisions of the Regulations— a designate the Department of Agriculture to be the competent authority for the purpose of approving staging points, and withdrawing, suspending and restoring such approvals, as necessary, in accordance with Articles 3.1, 3.3, 3.4 and 4.2 of the Council Regulation (Regulation 3); b designate the Department of Agriculture to be the competent authority to appoint a veterinary surgeon to exercise the powers contained in Article 6.1 of the Council Regulation (confirmation of route plans where animals leave a staging point) (Regulation 3); c confer on an inspector of the Department of Agriculture the power to serve a notice to protect the welfare of animals that are resting at a staging point in respect of which a notice has been served suspending or revoking its approval (Regulation 4); d confer on an inspector of the Department of Agriculture the power to enter and inspect any land, building or other place for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of these Regulations are being complied with (Regulation 5); e make the contravention of, or failure to comply with, specified provisions of the Council Regulation, and the causing or permitting of such a contravention of, or failure to comply with, such provisions, and the failure to comply with a notice served under Regulation 4 of the Order, an offence and makes provision in relation to penalties (Regulation 6); and f amend Part I of Schedule 7 to the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order (Northern Ireland) 1997 by inserting a paragraph requiring that, unless the 24 hour rest period referred to in paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the 1997 Order is taken at the place of destination, it must be taken at a staging point approved under Council Regulation (EC) No. 1255/87 (Regulation 7).

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