Obstruction etc.

Q: Is article 10 of The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1993 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

article 10 of The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1993

Revoked
Requires proof of a state of mind
Either way
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

10 Any person who— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on him by virtue of article 6, 7 or 8 of this Order; b without reasonable excuse prevents any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c intentionally obstructs any such officer who is exercising 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

10 Any person who— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on him by virtue of article 6, 7 or 8 of this Order; b without reasonable excuse prevents any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c intent

What would breach article 10?

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.

Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1993.
Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Environmental offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2014
Covers unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste, illegal discharges to air, land and water, and the equivalent offences committed by organisations. It is the guideline that introduced turnover bands for corporate fines, so the size of the defendant company is a starting point rather than a mitigating detail.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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 Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1994
Revoked on: 22 March 1994
Made: 10 August 1993
In force from: 1 September 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 Order consolidates with amendments the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1985, as amended, (“the 1985 Order”) which made provision for the enforcement of certain of the enforceable Community restrictions and other obligationsrelating to sea fishing set out in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2241/87 establishingcertain control measures for fishing activities (“the Council Regulation”) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2807/83 laying down detailed rules for recording information onMember States' catches of fish (“the first Commission Regulation”). The relevant provisions of the Council Regulation— a require co-operation in facilitating inspections and require masters to permit theverification of information relating to trans-shipments (articles 2(2) and 7(2),fourth sub-paragraph); b require masters to keep logbooks (ie records of their operations) when fishing for stocks subject to total allowable catches (article 5); c require masters to make declarations to the authorities of Member States relating to catches landed or trans-shipped (articles 6, 7 and 8); d prohibit the retention on board, trans-shipment, landing, arranging for trans-shipment or arranging for landing of catches taken after the date on which a quotaallocated to a Member State is deemed to have been exhausted (third sub-paragraph of article 11(3)); e require nets to be stowed in certain circumstances (article 13). The relevant provisions of the first Commission Regulation— a impose detailed requirements for keeping a logbook (article 1 and Annexes I, II,IV, V, VI and VII); b impose detailed requirements for making a landing declaration and a trans-shipment declaration (article 2 and Annexes I, III, IV and V); c impose detailed requirements for the submission of information (article 3 andAnnex VIII). This Order amends the definition of “the Council Regulation” so as to incorporate withinthat definition the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3483/88 amending Regulation (EEC) No. 2241/87 (article 2). The relevant provisions of the amending Regulation prohibit the landing and trans-shipment of fish without a licence or certified document incertain circumstances (articles 11a(2) and 11b(2) of the Council Regulation). The Order also provides for the enforcement of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1382/87 establishing detailed rules concerning the inspection of fishing vessels (“the second Commission Regulation”). The relevant provisions of the second Commission Regulation— a require the provision of a boarding ladder (article 3(2) and Annex II); and b require masters of inspected vessels to make communications equipment and operators available to an inspector (article 3(3)). For the purpose of enforcing the Council and Commission Regulations this Order confers on British sea-fishery officers powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (articles 6, 7 and 8). The powers to search for and to seize documents are subject, in the case of premises on land, to the officer obtaining a warrant from a justice of the peace, sheriff or stipendiary magistrate (article 7(2) and (3)). Provision is also made for the prosecution of offenders and for the punishment of anyone found guilty of furnishing false information or obstructing a British sea-fishery officer (articles 3 and 10). The maximum penalties specified for such offences, and for offences relating to the provisions of the Council and Commission Regulations correspond, in the case of offences equivalent to those under the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (c. 84), and the Sea Fisheries Act 1968 (c. 77), both as amended by the Fisheries Act 1981, to the penalties imposed for such offences by those Acts (articles 4 and 10). 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 a sheriff (article 5). The Order revokes the 1985 Order together with the Orders which amended it (article 13).

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1993 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheriesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1993