UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

paragraph 5(1) of SCHEDULE 3 of The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (revoked)

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

1 A person who—

a intentionally obstructs an officer of an enforcement authority acting in pursuance of this Schedule;

b without reasonable excuse fails to comply with

a requirement made of him by such an officer under paragraph 3(1) above; or

c without reasonable excuse fails to give an officer of an enforcement authority acting in pursuance of this Schedule any other assistance or information which the officer may reasonably require of him for the purpose of the performance of the officer’s functions under this Schedule, shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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).

“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

forcement authority acting in pursuance of this Schedule; b without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a requirement made of him by such an officer under paragraph 3(1) above; or c without reasonable excuse fails to give an officer of an enforcement authority acting in pursuance of this Schedule any other assistance or information which th

What would breach paragraph 5(1) of SCHEDULE 3?

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 Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1992-12-23); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
22 December 1992
In force from
23 December 1992
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 implement Council Directive 90/314/EEC on package travel, package holidays, and package tours (OJ No. L158, 13 June 1990, p.59). The Regulations control the sale and performance of packages sold or offered for sale in the UK. Packages are defined as the pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following when sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price and when the service covers a period of 24 hours or more or includes overnight accommodation: transport; accommodation; other tourist services not ancillary to transport or accommodation and accounting for a significant proportion of the package. The Regulations set out what information must be given to the consumer before the contract is concluded (including information to be in brochures, where one is published) and information which must be given to the consumer before the package starts. They lay down terms which must be included in the contract and prescribe the circumstances in which price revisions may be made. They provide that the other party to the contract (ie the organiser and/or retailer, as the case may be) should be strictly liable to the consumer for the proper performance of the obligations under the contract, irrespective of whether such obligations are to be provided by that other party or by other suppliers of services. They also provide that the other party to the contract shall provide sufficient evidence of security for the refund of money paid over and for the repatriation of the consumer in the event of insolvency. The Regulations will be enforced by local weights and measures authorities in Great Britain and by the Department of Economic Development in Northern Ireland.

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