UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 10(1) of The Farm Sustainability Standards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

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

10 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 8; or b without reasonable cause fails to comply with a request made under regulation 9, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 10(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 Farm Sustainability Standards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025.
  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
9 October 2025
In force from
1 January 2026
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.

Cross Compliance formerly linked payments to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy to compliance with a range of laws and standards known as Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions and Statutory Management Requirements (SMR). The new Farm Sustainability Standards replace these former cross compliance controls in relation to all breaches of the new underpinning requirements which have occurred from 1st January 2026. Regulation 3 amends Regulation (EU) No1306/2013 to make provision for the commencement of Farm Sustainability Standards from 1st January 2026. Regulation 4 amends regulation (EU) No 640/2014 to make provision for the commencement of Farm Sustainability Standards from 1st January 2026. Regulation 5 amends Regulation (EU) No809/2014 to make provision for the commencement of Farm Sustainability Standards from 1st January 2026. The Schedules to this regulation set out the standards which will apply in Northern Ireland from 1st January 2026 with Regulation 6 setting out further underpinning requirements in relation to environmental standards. Regulations 7 to 10 define an authorised person and provide enforcement powers for authorised persons. These powers are in addition to any existing power of entry and are for the purposes of providing a control report, establishing a breach of Farm Sustainability Standards or ascertaining whether an offence under these regulation shas been or is being committed. Regulation 11 provides for the application of the cross compliance penalty regime in respect of any non-compliance occurring before these Regulations come into operation. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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