UK Offence Report

Offences: obstruction etc.

regulation 24 of The Beef and Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Regulations 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

24 Any person who—

a without reasonable excuse, intentionally obstructs any person acting under these Regulations;

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

c gives any person acting under these Regulations any information knowing it to be false or misleading; or

d fails to produce any document or record when required to do so by any person acting under these Regulations; 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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, knowing it to be).

“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, knowing it to be; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

24 Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, intentionally obstructs any person acting under these Regulations; b without reasonable excuse, fails to give any person acting under these Regulations any assistance or information that that person may reasonably require for the purpose of carrying out func

What would breach regulation 24?

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 Pig Carcase Classification (Scotland) Regulations 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
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
Status not determined
Made
14 September 2010
In force from
9 October 2010
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, which apply in Scotland only, revoke and remake with amendments the provisions of the Pig Carcase (Grading) Regulations 1994 and the Beef Carcase (Classification) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and their amending instruments. The Regulations enforce Article 42 of, and Annex V to, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 (O.J. No. L 299, 16.11.2007, p.1), which relate to Community scales for the classification of carcases, and Commission Regulation (EC) No.1249/2008 (O.J. No.L 337, 16.12.2008, p.3), which sets out further details regarding the implementation of those scales for the classification of carcases. The Regulations relate to the carcases of bovine animals and pigs. The Regulations provide for notifications to be made to the Scottish Ministers by operators of slaughterhouses which slaughter bovine animals or pigs (regulation 4). They contain provisions regarding the holding of licences by persons who classify bovine carcases or in relation to classification of such carcases by automated grading equipment (regulations 8 to 11). They require the keeping of certain records (regulations 12 and 16 and Schedules 3 and 4). Part 5 of the Regulations concerns enforcement, and makes provision relating to the powers of authorised officers. In particular regulations 19 and 20 provide that breach of specified provisions of European Union legislation (set out in Schedules 1 and 2) is an offence. All offences are punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, except offences under regulation 23(2) (misleading marks). Reference to the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation are to be read as references to the text of these instruments as amended from time to time. “As amended” versions of the European instruments can be found on the Eur-Lex website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm). A Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) was prepared in respect of these Regulations. Copies of the BRIA can be obtained from the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Directorate, B1 Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH113XD. 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 0.92.

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