UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

regulation 5 of The Sea Fish (Marketing Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

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

5 A person who–

a intentionally obstructs an authorised officer exercising any of the powers conferred on that officer by regulation

4 of these Regulations; or

b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with

a requirement properly imposed under these Regulations by such an officer, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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).

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

The defence, as drafted

at officer by regulation 4 of these Regulations; or b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement properly imposed under these Regulations by such an officer, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 5?

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 Sea Fish (Marketing Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
  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
16 November 2004
In force from
14 December 2004
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 make provision for the enforcement in Scotland of Community Regulations laying down common marketing standards and related rules as to marketing for certain species of sea fish, including shellfish. The Regulations implement a Community obligation to take appropriate measures to penalise infringements of Community marketing rules for fishery products, imposed by Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 104/2000 (O.J. No. L 17, 21.1.00, p.22). The Council Regulations to be enforced under these Regulations are– a Council Regulation 2406/96, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 323/97, Council Regulation (EC) No. 2578/2000, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2495/2001 and the Act concerning the Conditions of Accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded and read with Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3703/85 as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3506/89; and b Council Regulation (EC) No. 104/2000. Those Council Regulations prohibit the marketing for human consumption of fishery products except in compliance with the rules laid down in those Regulations. These rules require that fishery products must be marketed in lots each containing fish of the same species of uniform grade of freshness, size and presentation (determined in accordance with grading standards prescribed in Regulation 2406/96), bearing a label to show the grade and have the net weight in kilograms clearly and legibly marked on each lot (Articles 5, 7 and 8 of Regulation 2406/96). Additional rules are prescribed in relation to fish imported from third countries, while fish landed from third country vessels are subject to the rules applicable to Community catches (Article 11 of Regulation 2406/96). In the case of pelagic species such as herring and mackerel (which may be marketed in bulk) grading may be undertaken according to a sampling system (Article 9 of Regulation 2406/96). These Regulations make infringements of the prohibitions on marketing imposed by Regulations 2406/96 and 104/2000 offences for the purposes of Scots law and specify penalties (regulation 3). The Regulations confer powers of enforcement on authorised officers (regulation 4), penalise the obstruction of such officers in the exercise of those powers (regulation 5) and provide for the protection of such officers, acting properly, from challenge in the courts (regulation 6). The Regulations revoke the Sea Fish (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1986 (as amended) as regards Scotland (regulation 7).

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