UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 10(1) of The Sea Fishing (Transitional EU Technical Conservation Measures) (Scotland) Order 2010

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 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 such officers by article6 or7; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with such requirement; c conceals, tampers with or disposes of evidence relating to an investigation; d assaults an officer who is exercising any of the powers conferred by this Order; or e obstructs any such officer in the exercise of the powers conferred by article 6, 7 or 8, is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

10 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 such officers by article6 or7; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with such requirement; c conceal

What would breach article 10(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 (Transitional EU Technical Conservation Measures) (Scotland) Order 2010.
  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
£10,000
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
11 March 2010
In force from
17 April 2010
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 Annex III to Council Regulation (EC) No. 43/2009 fixing for 2009 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (“the Council Regulation”). The restrictions and obligations contained in AnnexIII to the Council Regulation are extended and amended by Council Regulation (EC) No.1288/2009 establishing transitional technical measures from 1January 2010 to 30June 2011. The Order applies to Scottish fishing boats, wherever they may be, and to other fishing boats within the Scottish zone. It makes it an offence to contravene, or fail to comply with, the provisions of Annex III to the Council Regulation referred to in column1 (and briefly described in column2) of Schedule1 (EU technical conservation measures) to the Order (article3). The Order provides penalties for a relevant offence (as defined in the Order) (article 4) and for the recovery of fines imposed in respect of a relevant offence or an offence under article 10 of the Order (article 5). For the purpose of enforcing article 3 of the Order, or any equivalent provision, the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers powers to: go on board fishing boats; search for and examine fishery products and equipment; require the production of documents; search for and seize documents; take a boat to the nearest convenient port; enter and inspect premises; stop and search vehicles transporting fish, and seize fish and fishing gear (articles 6 to 8). The Order provides for the protection of British sea-fishery officers in the exercise of their powers under the Order (article 9). It creates offences of, and provides penalties for, obstructing such officers (article 10). The Order makes provision in relation to offences committed by a body corporate, a partnership or an unincorporated association (article11) and in relation to the admissibility in evidence of logbooks and other documents (article 12). The Order revokes the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures and Restriction on Days at Sea) (Scotland) Order 2009 (S.S.I. 2009/317) and the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures and Restriction on Days at Sea) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2009 (S.S.I. 2009/338) (article13). A Regulatory Impact Assessment in the relation to this Order has been prepared and placed in SPICE. Copies can be obtained from Marine Scotland, Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY.

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