UK Offence Report

11 Any person who— a intentionally obstructs an authorised person exercising the power conferred by these…

regulation 11 of The Public Services Reform (Joint Inspections) (Scotland) Regulations 2011

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

11 Any person who—

a intentionally obstructs an authorised person exercising the power conferred by these Regulations; or

b fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by an authorised person under the power conferred by these Regulations, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

ising the power conferred by these Regulations; or b fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by an authorised person under the power conferred by these Regulations, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 11?

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 Public Services Reform (Joint Inspections) (Scotland) Regulations 2011.
  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
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
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
8 March 2011
In force from
1 April 2011
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision concerning joint inspections carried out under section 1155 of the Public Services (Reform) Scotland Act 2010 (‘the Act’). Regulation 3 sets out who is an authorised person for the purposes of joint inspections carried out under section 115. Regulation 4 gives authorised persons the right to enter and inspect premises. Regulations 5 and 6 concern the power to require information, an explanation of the information and disposal of information acquired during the inspection, requiring persons to assist authorised persons, including producing information and providing an explanation of such information, and giving authorised persons the power to take photographs, recordings or measurements as necessary for the purposes of an inspection. Regulation 7 provides for interviews and examinations carried out within an inspection, setting out the circumstances in which an interview or examination may be carried out, who may interviewed, and restrictions on the examination of health records, which may only be carried out by a medically qualified person. Regulation 8 places a duty upon authorised persons to produce authentication of authority to carry out inspections. Regulation 9 concerns the disposal of personal records held by an authorised person in consequence of an inspection. Regulation 10 concerns the power to share information obtained for the purpose of a joint inspection; this power is limited in its scope by the application of section 117(3) of the Act which limits the extent to which confidential information may be shared. Regulation 11 creates criminal offences in respect of obstructing an authorised person or failing to comply with certain requirements in the Regulations. A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies are available from www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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