UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 23(1) of The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 (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

1 A person is guilty of an offence if—

a he fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by an officer under the powers conferred by Article

18 or 19;

b without reasonable excuse, he prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement;

c he assaults an officer while exercising any of the powers conferred by Article 18, 19, or 21; or

d he intentionally obstructs an officer in the exercise of any of those powers.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

1 A person is guilty of an offence if— a he fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by an officer under the powers conferred by Article 18 or 19; b without reasonable excuse, he prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; c he assaults an officer while ex

What would breach article 23(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 Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order (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
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
18 September 2007
In force from
31 October 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order provides in Northern Ireland and in relation to Northern Ireland fishing boats for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of Annex IIA and IIC (“the Annexes”) to Council Regulation (EC) No 41/2007 fixing for 2007 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (OJ No L 15, 20.1.2007, p.1) (“the Regulation”). The Order contains provisions which create a management system for days at sea based on monthly entitlements and linked to management periods. Article 3 deals with the establishment of management periods. Article 4 details deeming provisions for certain management areas notified in the first period of 2007. Article 5 contains offences in relation to management periods. Article 6 provides for the calculation of allocation of days for fishing in the Cod Recovery and Sole Recovery Zones which are defined in Article 2 as covering the geographical areas covered by the Annexes. Article 7 provides for the calculation of the allocation of days when a fishing boat is involved in pair trawling. Articles 8 and 9 provide for the adjustment of allocations of days by the Department. Article 10 contains offences in relation to allocations of days and other restrictions on presence in the Cod Recovery and Sole Recovery Zones. Article 11 provides for transfers of days and Article 12 contains an offence of giving false information in a notification made for the purpose of a transfer. Article 13 creates offences in relation to restrictions in both Annexes on the carriage and operation of fishing gears and the combined use of regulated and unregulated gears. Article 14 contains provisions on, and an offence relating to, the maintenance of log-books. Part 3 of the Order makes provision for enforcement. Article 16 deals with penalties and Article 17 provides for the recovery of fines imposed, by a magistrates’ court upon conviction under the Order or any equivalent provision. Articles 18, 19 and 21 confer various powers on British sea-fishery officers including the power to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish and to seize fish and fishing gear. Article 22 provides for the protection of British sea-fishery officers in the exercise of their powers under the Order and Article 23 for an offence of obstructing such officers. Article 24 provides for offences committed by a body corporate, a partnership or an unincorporated association and Article 25 for the admissibility in evidence of logbooks and other documents. Article 26 revokes Article 2 and Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) (Monitoring, Inspection and Surveillance) Order 2006, S.R. 2006/300; the provisions necessary to amend the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2005 (S.R. 2005/350) are retained.

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