UK Offence Report

Offence of obstruction

regulation 19 of The Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013

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

19 A person is guilty of an offence if that person, in relation to an authorised person acting under these Regulations—

a intentionally obstructs the authorised person;

b without reasonable cause, fails to give to the authorised person any information or assistance or to provide any facilities that such person may reasonably require;

c knowingly or recklessly gives false or misleading information to the authorised person; or

d fails to produce

a record or document when required to do so by the authorised person.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 19?

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 Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.
  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)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
30 October 2013
In force from
1 December 2013
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 revoke, in relation to Scotland, the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations 1995 and revoke and remake the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, incorporating certain provisions of the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations 1995. These Regulations enforce in Scotland Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (“the EU Control Regulation”). These Regulations also enforce in Scotland Commission Regulation (EU) No 142/2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and implementing Council Directive 97/78/EC as regards certain samples and items exempt from veterinary checks at the border under that Directive (“the EU Implementing Regulation”) that provides technical supplementation of those requirements of the EU Control Regulation. The EU Control Regulation places obligations on operators in relation to animal by-products, including obligations as to disposal and use, prohibitions on feeding, and placing on the market. In addition, there are requirements for operators, plants and establishments to be registered or approved. The obligations vary according to the categorisation of the material; the higher risk animal by-product is categorised as Category 1 material, next in risk is Category 2 and then Category 3 material. The EU Control Regulation allows the member State to derogate from the obligations and also enables the competent authority to make authorisations in relation to specified obligations. The EU Implementing Regulation sets out a framework for the categorisation and use of animal by-products and supplements the EU Control Regulation by containing detailed provisions for the disposal and use of animal by-products. These Regulations provide for the following:— The Scottish Ministers are designated as the competent authority (regulation 3). Certain areas are designated as remote for the purposes of Article 19(1)(b) of the EU Control Regulation (regulation 8). Access by farmed animals to animal by-products is restricted (regulations 4-6) (Part 2). The staining of certain animal by-products to prevent them entering the food chain, allowing for the revocation of similar provisions in the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations 1995 (Part 3). Stained animal by-products are not to be exported from Scotland to another member State without that State’s agreement, although they may be moved within the UK. Procedure and appeals in respect of registration and approval (Part 4). Enforcement of the requirements by providing for offences including breach of the requirements of the EU Control Regulation as identified in Schedule 1 which sets out the requirements of the EU Control Regulation as supplemented by the requirements of the EU Implementing Regulation and these Regulations, where applicable (Part 5). The EU Control Regulation enables the competent authority to make authorisations in respect of such requirements. Such authorisations enable the competent authority to determine whether or not a product is a risk to human or animal health, for example. A full list of all the authorisations that are provided for under the requirements is available on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk. In addition, that website makes available the authorisations exercised by the Scottish Ministers. Enforcement powers by appointing enforcement authorities (Part 6). Consequential provisions (Part 7), revocations, savings and transitional provisions (Part 8). A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Directorate, Animal Health and Welfare Division, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD.

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