UK Offence Report

Obstruction

regulation 16 of The Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) (Scotland) Regulations 2002

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

16 Any person who–

a intentionally obstructs an authorised officer exercising functions conferred by these Regulations;

b fails to give any such officer any assistance or information or to provide any facilities which that officer may reasonably require of that person for the purposes of the functions of the officer under these Regulations; or

c contravenes or fails to comply with regulation 8(5), shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 16?

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 Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) (Scotland) Regulations 2002.
  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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
27 June 2002
In force from
23 September 2002
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, which extend to Scotland only, provide for the enforcement of EC Regulations (as specified in Schedules 6 and 9) concerned with the production and marketing of wine and related products. The Regulations– i designate authorities for the purposes of enforcement (regulation 3); ii define “medium dry” for the purposes of labelling and description (regulation 4); iii specify the vine varieties classified for the production of wine in Scotland (regulation 5 and Schedule 10); iv specify conditions for the use of geographical indications for the designation of table wine (regulation 6 and Schedule 10); v provide for powers of inspection and enforcement (regulation 7); vi authorise controls on the movement of wine-sector products (regulations 8 and 9 and Schedule 9); vii provide for reviews of prohibitions etc. on movement of wine-sector products (regulations 10 and 11); viii relieve authorised officers of personal liability for acts done by them in the purported exercise of functions conferred by these Regulations (regulation 12); ix confer on courts before which proceedings are brought powers in relation to the analysis and examination of samples (regulation 13); x prescribe offences and penalties and provide defences (regulations 14 to 18); and xi revoke the Common Agricultural Police (Wine) Regulations 1996 as amended (regulation 19). No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations.

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