UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 14(1) of The Wine Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (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 Any person guilty of obstruction under regulation

13 is liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (intentionally) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

The provision gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses intentionally; which element that governs was not determined.

The defence, as drafted

6 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it is a defence for the person charged to prove that that person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence, either by that person or by someone under that person’s control.

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 Wine Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.
  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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
29 October 2009
In force from
1 December 2009
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 revoke and replace the Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001, as amended, in so far as those Regulations apply in Northern Ireland. The Regulations reflect those changes in the Community wine regime coming into force on 1 August 2008 by— Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine; and Commission Regulation (EC) No 555/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) 479/2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine as regards support programmes, trade with third countries, production potential and on controls in the wine sector (OJ No. L170, 30.6.2008, p.1). The main change is that restrictions on the types of vine that may be used for wine-making are reduced. These Regulations enforce the Community provisions set out in regulation 2. They make provision for the establishment of organoleptic panels for the assessment of wines. They provide for enforcement mechanisms, including powers of inspectors to serve notices controlling movements of wines not complying with the Regulations. They are enforced by the district council, the Food Standards Agency, the Department or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs as set out in regulation 3. Breach of these Regulations is an offence punishable— a for obstruction of an authorised officer, with a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale on summary conviction; b for breach of the provisions in regulation 14(2), with a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale on summary conviction; c for all other provisions, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum on summary conviction, or an unlimited fine for conviction on indictment. This instrument implements the first phase of the reform of the Community wine regime, a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for which can be viewed at www.dardni.gov.uk.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence
0.72 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