UK Offence Report

Obstruction of authorised officers

paragraph 4 of SCHEDULE 2 of The Beef and Veal Labelling (Scotland) Regulations 2008

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

4 It is an offence–

a intentionally to obstruct an authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations;

b knowingly to give any information that is false or misleading to any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations;

c intentionally to fail to disclose any material particular to any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations; or

d to fail, without reasonable excuse–

i to give any assistance or information that any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations may require; or

ii to produce any record that any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations may require to be produced, for the performance of that authorised officer’s functions under these Regulations.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an authorised officer
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, knowingly).

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

The defence, as drafted

acting in the execution of these Regulations; or d to fail, without reasonable excuse– i to give any assistance or information that any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations may require; or ii to produce any record that any authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations may require to be produced, for

What would breach paragraph 4 of SCHEDULE 2?

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 Beef and Veal Labelling (Scotland) Regulations 2008.
  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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Beef and Veal Labelling (Scotland) Regulations 2010
Revoked on
11 December 2010
Made
16 December 2008
In force from
25 January 2009
Extent
S

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations replace the Beef Labelling (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.S.I. 2001/252) with Regulations setting out requirements for the labelling of veal as well as beef. They continue to enforce Title II of Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and subsidiary Commission Regulations. They also enforce the provisions relating to veal of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products as well as the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 566/2008 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 as regards the marketing of the meat of bovine animals aged 12 months or less. The Scottish Ministers enforce these Regulations in slaughterhouses, cutting plants and wholesalers, the relevant local authority enforces these Regulations in all other places (regulation 4(2)). It is an offence: for persons engaged in the marketing of beef or veal to fail to comply with the applicable requirements of the compulsory and voluntary beef or veal labelling schemes in Schedule 1 to the Regulations (regulation 5(1)); or to fail to comply with the requirements of a notice served by an authorised officer requiring the removal from sale of beef or veal which has been wrongly labelled or marketed (regulation 5(4)). Both offences are punishable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, currently £5,000 (regulation 9(2)). The Regulations confer powers of entry, inspection, sampling and enforcement on authorised officers (regulations 6(2) and Schedule 2) and make provision for the protection of officers acting in good faith (Schedule 2, paragraph 3). It is an offence to obstruct an authorised officer acting in the execution of the Regulations (Schedule 2, paragraph 4), punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or imprisonment for up to six months (regulation 9(2)). Regulation 7 makes provision for offences by bodies corporate. Regulation 8 provides for a defence of due diligence (regulation 8). A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was prepared in respect of these Regulations. Copies of the RIA can be obtained from the Scottish Government Rural Directorate, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY. Copies have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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