UK Offence Report

2 Any person who intentionally obstructs an authorised officer (or a person taken with and acting under the…

regulation 11(2) of The Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants (Scotland) Regulations 2001

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 Any person who intentionally obstructs an authorised officer (or

a person taken with and acting under the instructions of that authorised person in accordance with regulation 8(5)) in the exercise of the powers under regulation

8 shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 11(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 Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants (Scotland) Regulations 2001.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
8 June 2001
In force from
2 July 2001
Extent
S

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 introduce measures to supplement– 1 Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17th May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations; 2 Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21st June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds; and 3 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 of 23rd July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). The above Community legislation provides for payment of assistance from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund for measures which promote rural development falling within the scope of Council Regulation 1257/1999. Measures relating to Objective 1 areas (which include the Highlands and Islands for transitional support under Objective 1) are subject to the provisions of Council Regulation 1260/1999. These Regulations establish a framework for the payment in Scotland of grants for those and related purposes towards projects associated with the processing and marketing of agricultural products. They re-enact the Regulations establishing the Highland and Islands Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grants scheme and establish a similar scheme in relation to agricultural processing and marketing grants in the Lowlands area of Scotland. Grants under the Regulations must– a fulfil the requirements of, and be consistent with, the purposes of Articles 25 to 28 of Council Regulation 1257/1999 and Articles 21 to 23 of Commission Regulation 1750/1999; b where the investment or project in the Highland and Islands area, relate to the marketing of quality agricultural products and fall within any of the purposes set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations; or c where the investment or project is in the Lowlands area, facilitate the improvement and rationalisation of processing and marketing of agricultural products and thereby contribute to increasing the competitiveness and added value of such products and meet or contribute to one or more of the objectives set out in Article 25.2 and the fourth indent of Article 33 of Council Regulation 1257/99 (regulation 3). Regulation 4 provides for the procedure for applications for grants. Applications must be submitted to the Scottish Ministers after applications have been invited. The Regulations bring together a number of provisions common to both the Highland and Islands and Lowlands areas. They– a make provision for the determination of applications by the Scottish Ministers (regulation 5 and Schedules 2 and 3); b provide for how grants may be claimed and for the Scottish Ministers to determine the manner and timing of payment of the approved grants (regulation 6); c provide for retention of information and records (regulation 7); d confer powers of entry and inspection for authorised persons to enforce the Regulations (regulation 8); e make provision for the revocation and variation of approval and the withholding or recovery of grants (regulation 9); f make provision for payment of interest on grants recovered under regulation 9 (regulation 10); and g create offences of knowingly or recklessly making a false statement to obtain grants or of obstructing authorised persons acting under the Regulations (regulations 11 and 12). A copy of the Commission Decision approving the Single Programming Document, together with a copy of the Single Programming Document, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies of them may be inspected at the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, Food and EU Co-ordination Branch, Room 257, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY.

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