UK Offence Report

2 Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any requirement imposed under regulation…

regulation 8(2) of The Environmental Protection (Non-Refillable Refrigerant Containers) Regulations 1994

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any requirement imposed under regulation 7(2), b prevents any other person from appearing before or from anwering any question to which an authorised person may by virtue of regulation 7(2)(i) require an answer, c intentionally obstructs an authorised person in the exercise or performance of his powers or duties, d makes a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, where the statement is made in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish information imposed under regulation 7(2)(i), or e falsely pretends to be an authorised person, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

2 Any person who— a without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any requirement imposed under regulation 7(2), b prevents any other person from appearing before or from anwering any question to which an authorised person may by virtue of regulation 7(2)(i) require an answer, c intentionally obstructs

What would breach regulation 8(2)?

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 Environmental Protection (Non-Refillable Refrigerant Containers) Regulations 1994.
  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
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1994-03-02); 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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Environmental Protection (Controls on Ozone-Depleting Substances) Regulations 2002 (revoked)
Revoked on
31 March 2002
Made
31 January 1994
In force from
2 March 1994
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 impose restrictions on the importation, supply and storage ofnon-refillable containers containing certain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) for use as refrigerants in air-conditioning and refrigeration machinery. Regulation 3 (which applies to the United Kingdom) bans the import, landing and unloading of such containers and regulations 4 and 5 (which apply to Great Britain only) ban their supply and storage. Exceptions are made for certain specified purposes. Regulations 6 and 7 contain enforcement powers. Regulation 8 makes it a criminal offence to contravene the bans imposed by regulations 3 to 5 or to fail to comply with enforcement requirements.

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