UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 14(1) of Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

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 is guilty of an offence if –

a for the purposes of obtaining the whole or part of

a less favoured area compensatory allowance for himself or any other person he knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b he intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or

a person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of his powers under regulation 9.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 14(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 Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
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.

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
1 December 2004
In force from
1 December 2004
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 Commission Regulation 817/2004 (O.J. No. L153, 30.04.2004, p. 30: Corrigendum O.J. No. L231, 30.06.2004, p. 24) (“the Commission Regulation”) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1257/1999 (O.J. No. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 80) as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 567/2004 (O.J. No. L90, 27.03.2004, p. 1) (“the Rural Development Regulation”) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). They also implement Measure 2 of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme as amended. The Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme was originally approved by Commission Decision C(2000) 3638 under Article 44 of the Rural Development Regulation and the amendments of Measure 2 of the Programme were approved by Commission Decision C(2004) 4662 under Article 51(2) of the Commission Regulation. In particular the Regulations implement Articles 13, 14 and 15 of the Rural Development Regulation (which deal with support for less favoured areas) by defining the conditions of eligibility for less favoured area compensatory allowance (regulations 3 to 6) and the rates at which it is to be paid (regulation 7 and the Schedule). Regulation 8 provides for the exclusion of forage area in respect of claimants who held milk quota at 31st March 2003. Regulation 9 confers powers of entry and inspection on persons authorised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (“the Department”). Regulations 10 and 11 implement Article 73 of the Commission Regulation by granting the Department powers to withhold or recover payments and take certain other action in the event of a breach of an undertaking given by a claimant under these Regulations and in certain other events. Regulation 12 provides for the recovery of interest on sums recovered. Regulation 14 creates offences of making false or misleading statements and of obstructing persons authorised by the Department. Regulation 15 contains a consequential amendment. The Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme and the amendments thereto, together with copies of Commission Decisions C(2000) 3638 and C(2004) 4662 are available for inspection at the offices of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SB.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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