UK Offence Report

19 It shall be an offence for a person– a intentionally to obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of…

regulation 19 of The Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (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

19 It shall be an offence for a person– a intentionally to obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 14; b without reasonable excuse, to fail to comply with a requirement made under regulation 14 or a request made under regulation 15; or c knowingly or recklessly to make a statement or furnish any information which is false or misleading in a material particular where the statement is made or the information is furnished for the purposes of obtaining for himself or any other person the whole or any part of any compensatory allowance.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

“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: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

on in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 14; b without reasonable excuse, to fail to comply with a requirement made under regulation 14 or a request made under regulation 15; or c knowingly or recklessly to make a statement or furnish any information which is false or misleading in a material particular where the statement is made

What would breach regulation 19?

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 Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) (Scotland) Regulations 1999.
  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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
16 December 1999
In force from
18 December 1999
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 apply to Scotland and to land outside Scotland, where it is part of a cross border holding and Scottish Ministers are the appropriate authority. Scottish Ministers are the appropriate authority for land outside Scotland where the claimant’s holding comprises land within Scotland and outwith Scotland and the area aid application for 1999 is submitted to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Regulations revoke the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) 1996 Regulations (S.I. 1996/1500) as amended by the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) (Amendment) 1998 Regulations (S.I. 1998/206), and the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) (Amendment) 1999 Regulations (S.I. 1999/375) (“the revoked set of Regulations”) all of which applied to Great Britain. They amend and codify the revoked set of Regulations. The Regulations implement Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p.80), Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1750/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation No. 1257/1999 (O.J. No. 13.8.1999, p.31), and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2603/1999 laying down transitional rules for rural development support (O.J. No. L316, 10.12.1999). Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 provides for a system based on hectare for compensatory allowances from the year 2000, the Commission Regulation No. 2603/1999 allows to continue with allowances paid on a headage basis for the year 2000 only. Compensatory allowances are paid for breeding cows and ewes on farms in severely disadvantaged or disadvantaged land in Scotland, at specified rates (regulations 3 and 4(1) and (2), and Parts I and II of the Schedule). There are limits on the number of animals for which allowances may be paid (regulations 7 and 8) and the total amount a claimant may receive per hectare of his forage areas (Part III of the Schedule). The Regulations impose penalties for unsuitable supplementary feeding methods (regulations 7(3) and (4) and 8(3) and (4)) and for overgrazing (regulation 10). Regulations 14 and 15 contain powers of enforcement, regulation 17 provides for withholding or recovery of compensatory allowances where there is a breach of the rules of the Scheme, and regulations 19 to 22 deal with offences and penalties.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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