UK Offence Report

Obstruction, reasonable assistance and information

regulation 11(1) of The Registration of Establishments Keeping Laying Hens (Scotland) Regulations 2003

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

1 Any person who–

a intentionally obstructs any person acting in the execution of these Regulations;

b without reasonable cause, fails to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require for the purpose of carrying out the functions of that person under these Regulations;

c furnishes to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any information which is known to be false or misleading in

a material particular; or

d fails to produce

a record when required to do so by any person acting in the execution of these Regulations, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 11(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 Registration of Establishments Keeping Laying Hens (Scotland) Regulations 2003.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
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
26 November 2003
In force from
31 December 2003
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 implement for Scotland Commission Directive 2002/4/EC on the registration of establishments keeping laying hens, covered by Council Directive 1999/74/EC. The Regulations apply to establishments keeping 350 or more laying hens, other than those rearing breeding laying hens (regulation 3). The Scottish Ministers are required to set-up and maintain a register of such establishments recording the details listed in the Schedule and to allocate a distinguishing number to each establishment (regulation 4). Keepers and owners of establishments shall apply for registration and must supply to the Scottish Ministers with the appropriate information (regulation 5(1)). Changes to that information must be notified to the Scottish Ministers (regulation 5(2)). The information in the register will be made available to the Food Standards Agency and local authorities where this is necessary to trace eggs put on the market for human consumption (regulation 6). Local authorities will also have access to the register for the purpose of enforcement of the Regulations. Scottish Ministers will remove from the register any establishment which no longer keeps laying hens (regulation 7). Establishments may not continue in operation after these Regulations come into force if an application for registration has not been made by that date, and new establishments may not be brought into operation after that date until a distinguishing number has been communicated (regulation 8). Regulation 9 affords any person affected by a decision of the Scottish Ministers under these Regulations with an opportunity to apply for a review of the decision. Regulations 10 to 13 create offences and provide for enforcement. 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