Obstruction of officers, etc.

article 10 of The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Various Harbours) Harbour Revision Order 2002

• Status not determined
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Summary only
• Transport: maritime, aviation, rail and harbours

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 Any person who intentionally obstructs an officer of the Comhairle or other person acting in execution of this Order or of any enactment relating to

a harbour area shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

2 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 10?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person intentionally obstructs an officer of the Comhairle or other person acting in execution of this Order or of any enactment relating to a harbour area.
2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Various Harbours) Harbour Revision Order 2002.
3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
4. 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

£500

Standard scale

Level 2

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.

• Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales

  How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.

• Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016

  Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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

4 September 2002

In force from

5 September 2002

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.

This Order relates to certain harbour areas in na h'Eileanan an Iar. The limits of the harbour areas are described in Schedule 1 to the Order and shown on the harbour maps deposited with the Order. The Order defines and in some cases alters the harbour limits, confers powers on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar as harbour authority in relation to the harbour areas and makes other related provisions. Certain existing statutory provisions applicable to the harbour areas are repealed. The applicant for the Order is Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Sandwick Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2BW.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

• Vessels adriftarticle 12(1)
• Licensing of tugsarticle 13(3)
• Any person who– a intentionally obstructs any person acting under the authority of the Comhairle in setting…article 17(1)
• d without reasonable excuse causes or permits a vessel to be moored in a harbour area except( i at a mooring…article 17(1)(d)
• Failure to comply with directionsarticle 21(1)
• Restriction of works and dredgingarticle 31(2)
• Repair of structures, etcarticle 35(2)
• Repair of structures, etcarticle 35(2)(a)
• Account of goodsarticle 46(4)

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

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Various Harbours) Harbour Revision Order 2002 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Transport: maritime, aviation, rail and harboursOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 2002