UK Offence Report

Part 4 of the 1988 Act

article 2 of The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Reviews of Sentencing) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019

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

2 Part 4 of the 1988 Act (Reviews of Sentencing) shall apply to any case in which sentence is passed on a person for any of the following offences- a an offence under section 67 of the Medicines Act 1968 (unauthorised sale of medicinal products etc.); b an offence under section 1 of the Protection of Persons and Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (intimidation); c an offence under section 24A of the Immigration Act 1971 (deception); d an offence under sections 25 to 25B of the Immigration Act 1971 (offences relating to unlawful immigration); e an offence under section 26A or 26B of the Immigration Act 1971 (registration card and, possession of immigration stamp); f an offence under section 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (possession of controlled drug); g an offence under section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (occupiers etc., of premises to be punishable for permitting certain activities to take place there); h an offence under section 23(4) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (obstructing powers of search for controlled drugs); i an offence under Article 3 of the Criminal Law Amendment (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (bomb hoaxes); j offences under Article 3(1) and 3(1)(3) of the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (destroying or damaging property); k an offence under Article 4(a) of the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (threats to damage); l an offence under Article 5 of the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (possessing things with intent to damage); m an offence under sections 1 to 5 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 (forgery, copying false instrument, using false instrument, using a copy of a false instrument and, offences relating to money orders, share certificates, passports, etc.); n an offence under sections 14 to 17 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 (offences relating to counterfeit notes and coins and counterfeiting materials and implements); o an offence under section 4 of the Aviation Security Act 1982 (offences in relation to certain dangerous articles); p an offence under Article 9 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (use of words or behaviour or display of written material); q an offence under Article 22 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (carrying of offensive weapon in public place); r an offence under section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (criminal liability for making or dealing with infringing articles, etc.); s an offence under sections 198(1) and 198(1A) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (criminal liability for making, dealing with or using illicit recordings); t an offence under section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (unauthorised use of trade mark, etc., in relation to goods); u an offence under Article 47 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (intimidation, etc., of witnesses, jurors and others); v an offence under section 66 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (assaults on, and obstruction of, constables, etc.); w an offence under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (unlawful obtaining etc., of personal data); x an offence under section 83 of the Postal Services Act 2000 (interfering with the mail: postal operators); y an offence under section 85 of the Postal Services Act 2000 (prohibition on sending certain articles by post); z an offence under section 11 or 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (offences relating to proscribed organisations); aa an offence under sections 15 to 18 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (offences relating to terrorist property); bb an offence under section 19 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (disclosure of information: duty); cc an offence under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000 (failure to disclose: regulated sector); dd an offence under section 21D of the Terrorism Act 2000 (tipping off in course of regulated sector business); ee an offence under section 23 of, and paragraph 37 of Schedule 4 to, the Terrorism Act 2000 (breach of High Court restraint order); ff an offence under section 38B of the Terrorism Act 2000 (information about acts of terrorism); gg an offence under section 39 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (disclosure of information etc.); hh an offence under section 54 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (weapons training); ii an offence under sections 57 to 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000 (possessing things, collecting information and, eliciting, publishing, or communicating information about members of armed forces etc.); jj an offence under section 113 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (use of noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate); kk an offence under section 114 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (hoaxes involving noxious substances or things); ll an offence under sections 327 to 333A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (offences relating to money laundering); mm an offence under section 342 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (offences of prejudicing investigation); nn an offence under Article 3(1)(b) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (firearms certificate required); oo an offence under Articles 45(1)(f) or Articles 45(2)(b) to 45(2)(g) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (weapons subject to general prohibition); pp an offence under Article 61(1) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (carrying or discharging firearms in public place); qq an offence under Article 63 of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (prohibition of possession, etc., of firearm by certain persons); rr an offence under Article 64 of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (possession of firearm or ammunition in suspicious circumstances); ss an offence under section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (employing adult subject to immigration control); tt an offence under sections 1 to 4 of the Fraud Act 2006 (offences relating to fraud); uu an offence under section 6 or 7 of the Fraud Act 2006 (possession, and making or supplying for use in fraud); vv an offence under section 9 of the Fraud Act 2006 (participating in fraudulent business carried out by sole trader etc.); ww an offence under section 11 of the Fraud Act 2006 (obtaining services dishonestly); xx an offence under section 1 or 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 (encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications); yy an offence under section 6 or 8 of the Terrorism Act 2006 (training for terrorism); zz an offence under section 54 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (offences relating to notification); aaa an offence under section 6 of the Identity Documents Act 2010 (possession of false identity documents etc., without reasonable excuse); bbb an offence under section 93 of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (possession of offensive weapon with intent to commit an offence); ccc an offence under section 23 of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (breach of TPIM notice); ddd an offence under section 10 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (breach of a temporary exclusion order); eee an offence under section 4 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (committing an offence with intent to commit an offence under sections 1 (slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour) or 2 (human trafficking) of the 2015 Act); fff an offence under sections 4 to 5 of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (offences relating to producing and supplying a psychoactive substance); ggg an offence under sections 7 to 9 of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (offences relating to possessing and importing or exporting a psychoactive substance).

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 (dishonestly, with intent to).

“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: with intent to, dishonestly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

ents Act 2010 (possession of false identity documents etc., without reasonable excuse); bbb an offence under section 93 of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (possession of offensive weapon with intent to commit an offence); ccc an offence under section 23 of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (breach of TPIM not

What would breach article 2?

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 Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Reviews of Sentencing) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019.
  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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 67 of the Medicines Act 1968.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
9 July 2019
In force from
1 August 2019
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.

Part 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, as amended by the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002, empowers the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland (“the DPP”), with the leave of the Court of Appeal, to refer certain cases to that Court where the DPP considers that the sentences imposed were unduly lenient. Article 2 specifies the offences in respect of which that power may be exercised. Article 3 specifies cases in which a sentence is passed for attempting, encouraging or assisting the commission of any of the offences in Article 2.

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 0.64.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.64 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