UK Offence Report

6 Any person who— a knowingly or recklessly makes a false statement for the purpose of obtaining the payment…

regulation 6 of The Non-Marketing of Milk and Milk Products and the Dairy Herd Conversion Premiums Regulations 1977

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

6 Any person who—

a knowingly or recklessly makes

a false statement for the purpose of obtaining the payment to himself or to any other person of

a premium payable under the Regulation of the Council, or

b obstructs an authorised officer in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by regulation

4 of these regulations, or fails to furnish to such an officer on request any document referred to in paragraph (1)(d) of that regulation, shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding £400.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (for the purpose of obtaining, 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, recklessly, for the purpose of obtaining, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 6?

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 Non-Marketing of Milk and Milk Products and the Dairy Herd Conversion Premiums Regulations 1977.
  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
£400
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
27 July 1977
In force from
26 August 1977
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.

Under Regulation (EEC) No. 1078/77 of the Council of Ministers of the European Communities dated 17th May 1977, as supplemented by Regulation (EEC) No. 1307/77 of the Commission dated 15th June 1977 the details of two schemes are laid down. The purpose of one of these schemes is to encourage farmers at present engaged in producing and supplying milk or milk products to cease from supplying these commodities, and the other is to encourage farmers to change from the production of milk and milk products to the production of meat. The present Regulations make provision for those matters which are left to Member States by the schemes and which are necessary for their proper implementation in the United Kingdom. They accordingly appoint the “competent authority” which will be responsible for administering the schemes in the various parts of the United Kingdom, and provide for powers of entry on to land by authorised officers acting on behalf of the competent authority for the purposes of marking, registering, inspecting and counting animals, verifying and registering the area farmed by the applicant and of examining relevant documents. The Regulations give to the competent authority power to recover premiums paid in certain circumstances, and they also create a number of offences which are punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding £400.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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