UK Offence Report

5 A person who— a intentionally obstructs an inspector or a person assisting an inspector acting in the…

regulation 5 of The Salmonella in Broiler Flocks (Survey Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

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

5 A person who—

a intentionally obstructs an inspector or

a person assisting an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations;

b without reasonable cause, fails to give to an inspector or

a person assisting an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that inspector or person may reasonably require of him for the performance of his functions under these Regulations;

c furnishes to an inspector or

a person assisting an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations any information which he knows to be false or misleading; or

d fails without reasonable excuse to produce

a record when required to do so by an inspector or

a person assisting an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations, is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 (intentionally).

“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; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

mation which he knows to be false or misleading; or d fails without reasonable excuse to produce a record when required to do so by an inspector or a person assisting an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations, is guilty of an offence.

What would breach regulation 5?

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 Salmonella in Broiler Flocks (Survey Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005.
  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
22 December 2005
In force from
12 January 2006
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 provide a power of entry to inspectors to undertake the sampling required by Commission Decision 2005/636/EC (concerning a financial contribution by the Community towards a baseline survey on the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in broiler flocks of Gallus gallus to be carried out in the Member States) to detect the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in broiler chickens. Regulation 3 provides that the occupier or person in charge of a holding must provide information to the Department, upon request, to assist it with the selection of holdings to be included in the survey. Regulation 4 provides inspectors with various powers including a power of entry and power to take samples of faecal material, to examine records and to make inquiries of any person. Regulation 5 creates offences for obstructing an inspector exercising his powers under these Regulations and Regulation 6 sets out the applicable penalties.

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