UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 8(1) of The Integrated Administration and Control System Regulations 1993

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 If any person–

a intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of

a power conferred by regulation 6; or

b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with

a request made under regulation 7, he 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

e exercise of a power conferred by regulation 6; or b fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a request made under regulation 7, he shall be guilty of an offence.

What would breach regulation 8(1)?

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 Integrated Administration and Control System Regulations 1993.
  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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Integrated Administration and Control System) Regulations 2005
Revoked on
1 March 2005
Made
19 May 1993
In force from
10 June 1993
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations apply throughout the United Kingdom. They make provision for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92 establishing an integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes, and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3887/92 laying down detailed rules for applying the integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes (both defined in regulation 2(1)). The Regulations– a make provision for the calculation of the date from which forage area is available (regulation 3); b prescribe the minimum size of an agricultural parcel (regulation 4); c designate the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the authority to co-ordinate checks under Council Regulation 3508/92 (regulation 5); d confer on authorised persons of the competent authority powers of entry for the purposes of the Regulations and require that such assistance be given to them for the exercise of their powers as they may reasonably request (regulations 6 and 7); e create offences and penalties (regulation 8).

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