UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 7(1) of The Common Agricultural Policy Direct Payments and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (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 who—

a intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or accompanying person acting under the authorised person’s instructions) in the exercise of

a power conferred on the authorised person by regulation 5; or

b without reasonable cause fails to comply with

a request made under regulation 6, shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 7(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 Common Agricultural Policy Direct Payments and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014.
  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
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
25 November 2014
In force from
1 January 2015
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.

In Northern Ireland these Regulations supplement and make provision for the administration and enforcement of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 (O.J. No L347, 20.12.13, p549) (“the Horizontal Regulation”), Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 (“the Commission Delegated Regulation) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 (“the Commission Implementing Regulation) in relation to cross compliance under the revised system of direct support schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy to come into force on 1st January 2015. Cross compliance links the payment of direct aid to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy to compliance with a range of laws and standards (see Article 91 of the Horizontal Regulation). Annex II to the Horizontal Regulation contains a list of “statutory management requirements” in areas of Community law and sets the framework for “standards for good agricultural and environmental condition of land”. Under Article 94 of the Horizontal Regulation Member States must set out standards of good agricultural and environmental condition which will apply to all farmers. The Regulations provide as follows: Regulation 2, by reference to the Schedule sets out the standards of good agricultural and environmental condition which will apply in Northern Ireland as required under Article 94 of the Horizontal Regulation. Article 2(2) provides that farmers with agri-environment commitments which directly and necessarily conflict with the standards will not be penalised for breaching the standards. The standards in the Schedule cover the following areas— Establishment of buffer strips along water courses Irrigation authorisations Protection of ground water against pollution Minimum soil cover Minimum land management reflecting site specific conditions to limit erosion Maintenance of soil organic matter levels Retention of landscape features Regulation 3 gives the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development the power to prohibit farmers from converting land under permanent pasture, and to oblige farmers to reconvert land to permanent pasture where the exercise of these powers is necessary in order for the United Kingdom to meet the requirements of Article 37 of the Delegated Regulation. Regulation 4 makes the Department, the Department of the Environment and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland responsible for carrying out the controls on the statutory management requirements or the good agricultural and environmental condition standards set out in these Regulations. Regulations 5 to 7 provide enforcement powers for an authorised person. These powers are in addition to any existing power of entry and are for the purpose of providing a control report, establishing a breach of cross compliance or ascertaining whether an offence under these Regulations has been or is being committed. Regulation 8 revokes the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) 2005 Regulations and all subsequent amendments. These provisions continue to apply in relation to a single application (within the meaning of the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Integrated Administration and Control Systems) Regulations 2009) as those provisions had effect before the revocation came into force. A booklet setting out the standards in the schedule will be available on the DARD intranet at www.dardni.gov.uk. Further information and a hard copy may be obtained from local DARD direct offices.

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