UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 20(1) of The Sea Fishing (Marking and Identification of Passive Fishing Gear and Beam Trawls) (Scotland) Order 2006

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 fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by

a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by articles

17 or 18;

b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; or

c obstructs any such officer in the exercise of any of those powers, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 Any person who– a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by articles 17 or 18; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any suc

What would breach article 20(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 Sea Fishing (Marking and Identification of Passive Fishing Gear and Beam Trawls) (Scotland) Order 2006.
  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
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
24 May 2006
In force from
21 June 2006
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 provides for the enforcement of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 356/2005 as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1805/2005 (“the Commission Regulation”) laying down detailed provisions regarding the marking and identification of passive fishing gear and beam trawls. The Order extends to Scotland and the Scottish zone, and insofar as it extends beyond Scotland and the Scottish zone (as defined in Article 2 of the Order) it does so only as a matter of Scots law (article 1 of the Order). The Order specifies in article 3 the boats which must comply with the requirements set down in the Order. Articles 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, 12 and 13 of the Order apply in accordance with Article 2 of the Commission Regulation to Scottish fishing boats and to any other fishing boat which is within the Scottish zone. Article 2 of the Commission Regulation provides that the Regulation applies to vessels fishing in Community waters but does not apply within 12 nautical miles measured from the baselines of coastal Member States. Article 2 of the Order defines the terms Scottish fishing boat and any other fishing boat. Articles 4 and 5 of the Order make provision in relation to beam trawls (defined in Article 3 of the Commission Regulation). Article 4 of the Order makes provision in relation to beams of beam trawls carried on board a fishing boat to which the article applies. Article 5 of the Order provides in relation to assembled beams of beam trawls carried on board or used for fishing by a fishing boat to which the article applies. The information required to be displayed on the beam or shoes of each beam is the external registration letters and numbers displayed on the hull of the boat to which the beam or assembled beam belongs. Article 6 of the Order provides in relation to passive gear (which is defined in Article 3 of the Commission Regulation) carried on board or used for fishing by a fishing boat to which the article applies. Article 7 of the Order provides in relation to end marker buoys and intermediary marker buoys, carried on board or used for fishing by a fishing boat to which the article applies. Article 8 of the Order provides in relation to the fixing, rigging and deployment of buoys on passive gear which is used for fishing by a fishing boat to which the article applies. Article 9 of the Order makes further provision as to the requirements for end marker buoys required to be deployed by Article 12.1 of the Commission Regulation as provided under article 8 of the Order. Article 10 of the Order makes further provision as to the requirements for intermediary marker buoys required to be deployed by Article 14.1 of the Commission Regulation as provided under article 8 of the Order. Article 11 of the Order makes provision for the derogation provided for in Article 14.2 of the Commission Regulation. This derogation was inserted by Commission Regulation 1805/2005. The derogation is in respect of intermediary marker buoys being used in the Baltic Sea. Article 12 of the Order provides that the label required under articles 6, 9(1)(a), 10 and 11 must be in accordance with Article 8 of the Commission Regulation. Article 13 of the Order provides as to the requirements for the cords linking the buoys to the passive gear by reference to Article 11 of the Commission Regulation. Article 14 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of the provisions of Articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,12 and 13. Penalties for contravention of the offences created by Article 14 are set out in Article 15. The statutory maximum is currently £5,000. Article 16 of the Order makes further provision in relation to recovery of fines. Articles 17 and 18 of the Order confer enforcement powers on British sea-fishery officers. Provision is also made in relation to the liability of officers for anything done in the purported exercise of powers conferred (article 19). The Order also creates offences and provides penalties in respect of obstruction of a British sea-fishery officer (article 20). Articles 21 and 22 provide in relation to offences committed by bodies corporate, partnerships and unincorporated associations and the admissibility of documents compiled for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2847/93. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the application of the marking and identification of passive fishing gear and beam trawl measures to Scottish fishing boats has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TW.

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