UK Offence Report

Records of decisions, etc

regulation 50(6) of The Valuation Tribunals (Wales) Regulations 1995

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

6 If without reasonable excuse

a person having custody of the record intentionally obstructs

a person in exercising the right conferred by paragraph (5), he shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

6 If without reasonable excuse a person having custody of the record intentionally obstructs a person in exercising the right conferred by paragraph (5), he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

What would breach regulation 50(6)?

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 Valuation Tribunals (Wales) Regulations 1995.
  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
£200
Standard scale
Level 1
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 Valuation Tribunals (Wales) Regulations 2005
Made
24 November 1995
In force from
1 January 1996
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 establish new valuation tribunals in Wales and provide for the determination of appeals under section 23 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and section 16 and paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 3 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 in relation to community charge and council tax respectively. Parts II and III provide for the establishment of the tribunals on 1st April 1996. Regulation 2 establishes tribunals for each of the four areas of jurisdiction set out in Schedule 1. Regulations 3 and 4 make provision for the number of members for each tribunal, the number to be appointed by each appointing council, their appointment and the duration of membership. Regulations 5 and 6 deal with the appointment of the tribunal’s president and its chairmen. Regulation 7 provides for the circumstances in which a person is to be disqualified from membership. Regulation 8 provides for allowances payable to members. Matters relating to staff, administration, accommodation and equipment are dealt with in regulations 9 to 12. Part IV contains transitional provisions in relation to transferred appeals, the winding up of existing tribunals and initial appointments of members. Parts V and VI provide for the procedure for dealing with appeals in relation to community charges and council tax respectively. Part VII has effect to amend the Valuation and Community Charge Tribunals Regulations 1989 in order to disapply those Regulations in relation to the tribunals established by these Regulations.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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