UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers and provision of information etc

regulation 6(1) of The Addition of Vitamins, Minerals and Other Substances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

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 Any person who —

a intentionally obstructs any person acting in the execution of these Regulations; or

b without reasonable cause, fails to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him; is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a term of imprisonment not exceeding

3 months or

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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(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 Addition of Vitamins, Minerals and Other Substances Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown 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
14 June 2007
In force from
7 August 2007
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 provision for the execution and enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods (OJ No. L404, 30.12.2006, p.26), “the EC Regulation”. The Regulations — a specify the enforcement authorities (regulation 3); b provide that, subject where relevant to the transitional arrangements specified in the EC Regulation, it is an offence — i to fortify foods with vitamins or minerals other than those permitted by the EC Regulation and in the forms specified therein; ii to add vitamins or minerals to certain specified foods; iii to fail to adhere to the relevant purity criteria in the manufacture of vitamin formulations or mineral substances; iv to add a vitamin or mineral to foods in less than a significant amount, as that term is defined in Community legislation; and v to fail to comply with certain requirements for the labelling and presentation of foods to which vitamins or minerals have been added (regulation 4); c apply various provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 5); and d provide that, subject to certain limitations, it is an offence to obstruct, fail to give information to or intentionally mislead anyone executing and enforcing these Regulations (regulation 6).

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