UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 8 of The Fishing Boats (Marking and Documentation) (Enforcement) Order 1993

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

8 Any person who, on any British fishing boat wherever it may be, or on any Community fishing boat or any Islands fishing boat which is within British fishery limits— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by article 7 of this Order; or b without reasonable excuse prevents any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c intentionally obstructs any such officer in the exercise of any of those powers, shall be guilty of an offence and liable— i on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000; or ii on conviction on indictment to a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

ishing boat which is within British fishery limits— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by article 7 of this Order; or b without reasonable excuse prevents any other person from complying with any such requirement; o

What would breach article 8?

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 Fishing Boats (Marking and Documentation) (Enforcement) Order 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
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
10 August 1993
In force from
1 September 1993
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes breaches of specified articles of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1381/87 (establishing detailed rules concerning the marking and documentation of fishing vessels) offences for the purposes of United Kingdom law wherever they occur in respect of any British fishing boat and within British fishery limits in respect of any Community fishing boat or Islands fishing boat. The Commission Regulation requires— 1 fishing vessels to be marked with the port or district in which it is registered (article 1 of the Regulation); 2 small boats carried on fishing vessels and marker buoys to be marked with the letter and number of the vessel to which they belong (article 2 of the Regulation); 3 vessels over 10 metres in length to carry on board specified documents (article 3(1) of the Regulation); and 4 vessels over 17 metres in length to keep on board certified drawings or descriptions of fish rooms and documents indicating calibration of sea-water tanks (article 3(2) of the Regulation). On summary conviction the offender will be liable to a fine not exceeding the amount specified in relation to the offence in column 3 of the Schedule to the Order (currently the statutory maximum is £5,000) and, on conviction on indictment, to a fine (article 4 of the Order). There is provision for a defence of due diligence (article 5). The Order provides powers for the recovery of fines imposed by a magistrates' court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, or in Scotland by the sheriff (article 6). The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers (article 7). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of obstructing a British sea-fishery officer (article 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