UK Offence Report

2 It is an offence for a person to— a obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of that person’s powers…

regulation 11(2) of The Water Environment (Remedial Measures) (Scotland) Regulations 2016

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

2 It is an offence for a person to— a obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of that person’s powers under regulation 31(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, the 2011 Regulations; b fail to comply with any requirement imposed in the exercise of an authorised person’s powers under regulation 31(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, the 2011 Regulations; c fail or refuse to provide facilities or assistance or any information or to permit any inspection reasonably required by an authorised person in the exercise of that authorised person’s powers or duties under or by virtue of regulation 31(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, the 2011 Regulations; d prevent any other person from appearing before an authorised person, or answering any question to which an authorised person may require an answer, pursuant to regulation 31(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, the 2011 Regulations; e pretend to be a person authorised in accordance with regulation 31(4) of the 2011 Regulations; f make a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly to make a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, if the statement is made in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under any provision of these Regulations; or g cause or permit any other person to commit an offence under paragraph (1) or sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) of this paragraph.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (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: recklessly.

What would breach regulation 11(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 Water Environment (Remedial Measures) (Scotland) Regulations 2016.
  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
13 January 2016
In force from
1 April 2016
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 provide for SEPA to serve a notice (“a remedial measures notice”) on an “appropriate person” requiring that person to undertake specified remedial measures (regulation 3). An “appropriate person” means the Scottish Ministers, Network Rail or any public body or office holder designated as a “responsible authority” by an order under section 2 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003. SEPA may only serve a remedial measures notice if satisfied that— a the appropriate person owns, manages, maintains or is otherwise responsible for an artificial structure which by virtue of its detrimental impact on the characteristics of a body of water is likely to prevent or delay the achievement of an environmental objective; b it is necessary or expedient for the purposes of facilitating the achievement of that objective for that person to undertake the remedial measures; and c the measures specified in the remedial measures notice are necessary and proportionate for those purposes. It is an offence to fail to comply with a remedial measures notice (regulation 11). A person who has been served a remedial measures notice may appeal to the Scottish Ministers against the notice (regulation 16). No business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations as no significant change is foreseen to the existing impacts upon business, charities or voluntary bodies.

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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”; the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.96 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