UK Offence Report

14 It shall be an offence for a person— a intentionally to obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of…

regulation 14 of The Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1996

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

14 It shall be an offence for a person— a intentionally to obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 9. b without reasonable excuse, to fail to comply with a requirement made under regulation 9 or a request made under regulation 10; or c knowingly or recklessly to make a statement or furnish any information which is false or misleading in a material particular where the statement is made or the information is furnished for the purposes of obtaining for himself or any other person the whole or any part of any compensatory allowance.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

“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: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

son in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 9. b without reasonable excuse, to fail to comply with a requirement made under regulation 9 or a request made under regulation 10; or c knowingly or recklessly to make a statement or furnish any information which is false or misleading in a material particular where the statement is made

What would breach regulation 14?

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 Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1996.
  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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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 June 1996
In force from
1 July 1996
Extent
E+W+S

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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations consolidate (with changes) the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1994, as amended. The Regulations extend to Great Britain. They comply with Council Directive 75/268/EEC on mountain and hill farming and farming in less-favoured areas (OJ No. L128, 19.5.75, p. 1), as last amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 797/85 (OJ No. L93, 30.3.85, p. 43), and with Articles 17 to 19 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2328/91 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures (OJ No. L218, 6.8.91, p. 1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2387/95 (OJ No. L244, 12.10.95 p. 50). The Regulations also make provision for the administration and enforcement of the integrated administration and control system established by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92 insofar as that system applies to compensatory allowances for breeding cows and ewes. The Regulations provide for the payment of a specified annual compensatory allowance for certain breeding cows and ewes (regulation 3). They lay down detailed provisions relating to the payment of allowances for breeding cows and ewes (regulations 4 and 5). Provision is made enabling animals which are subject to a claim to be replaced (regulation 6). Penalties for overgrazing are specified (regulation 7). Regulation 8 makes provision for the making of claims for compensatory allowances. Regulations 9 and 10 provide for enforcement powers. Regulation 11 makes provision relating to retirement pensioners. Regulation 12 provides for the withholding and recovery of compensatory allowances in the circumstances stated therein. Regulation 13 determines the applicable rate of interest for allowances wrongly paid under these Regulations but recovered under Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3887/92. Regulations 14 to 17 relate to prosecutions. The principal changes effected by these Regulations are— a the definition of “ewe” in regulation 2(1) now provides for the animal concerned to be at least 1 year old on 1st January in the Scheme year in question; b the definitions of “qualified flock” and “regular breeding herd” in regulation 2(1) now require the animals concerned usually to be kept on a production unit which includes disadvantaged land or severely disadvantaged land; c entitlement to an allowance (as specified in regulation 3(1)) is now based on the number of ewes or as the case may be breeding cows owned or leased by the producer throughout the retention period for those animals, as defined in regulation 2(2); d there is now included a provision, regulation 6, allowing animals to be replaced during the retention period; e regulation 12(4) and (5) permits allowances to be withheld or as the case may be recovered where a claimant fails to comply with the record-keeping provisions of specified animal health legislation, made under the Animal Health Act 1981 (1981 c. 22). This is in conformity with Article 9 of Council Derective 92/102/EEC (OJ No. L355, 5.12.92, p.32). No Compliance Cost Assessment has been prepared.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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