UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 14(1) of The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (Financial Assistance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

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 the person intentionally obstructs an officer of the Department in the performance of any of the officer’s functions under these Regulations;

b the person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with

a requirement reasonably made by an officer of the Department in the exercise of any power conferred by these Regulations;

c the person furnishes to an officer of the Department acting in the execution of these Regulations any information knowing it to be false or misleading.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, knowing it to be).

“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, knowing it to be; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

cer’s functions under these Regulations; b the person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement reasonably made by an officer of the Department in the exercise of any power conferred by these Regulations; c the person furnishes to an officer of the Department acting in the execution of these Regulations any information knowi

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 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (Financial Assistance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.
  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
3 December 2015
In force from
14 January 2016
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 that the Department may pay financial assistance for the purposes of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (OJ.No. L149, 20.5.2014, p.1) (the “EMFF Regulation”). The EMFF Regulation provides for support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in respect of certain categories of investments, projects or actions in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Regulations 3 to 7 set out the procedure relating to applications for financial assistance. Regulation 5 makes it an offence to supply false information when making an application. Regulation 8 makes payment of financial assistance dependent on provision of satisfactory evidence of expenditure incurred and compliance with conditions of approval. Regulation 9 makes provision for the method of payment of financial assistance. Regulation 10 makes payment conditional on the applicant retaining relevant records for the stipulated time period and failure to do so is an offence. Regulation 11 provides for the variation, suspension and revocation of any approval of an application for financial assistance. Regulation 12 provides that the Department may, by notice, recover payments of financial assistance in certain circumstances, and that sums outstanding may be recovered as a debt. Regulations 13 and 14 provide the Department with powers of entry, and offences and penalties, for the enforcement of these Regulations. Regulation 15 revokes schemes of financial assistance to the fishing industry, that are closed to new applications, along with appropriate savings provisions.

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