UK Offence Report

Rights of entry: supplementary provisions

regulation 14(3) of The Hedgerows Regulations 1997

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

3 Any person who wilfully obstructs

a person acting in the exercise of

a right of entry shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: wilfully.

What would breach regulation 14(3)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person wilfully obstructs a person acting in the exercise of a right of entry.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. 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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
24 March 1997
In force from
1 June 1997
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision for the protection of important hedgerows in England and Wales. To facilitate the protection of those hedgerows, the Regulations apply to a wider class of hedgerows, described in regulation 3 (in particular to hedgerows which are 20 metres or more long or which meet another hedgerow at each end and which, in each case, are on or adjacent to land used for certain specified purposes). Before removing any hedgerow, including a stretch of hedgerow, to which these Regulations apply the owner (or in certain cases a relevant utility operator) must notify the local planning authority (regulation 5). The hedgerow may then not be removed if the local planning authority serves a hedgerow retention notice, which may be done only if the hedgerow is important according to the criteria set out in regulation 4 and Schedules 1 to 3. The requirement for the owner (or utility operator) to notify the local planning authority does not apply to the permitted work described in regulation 6. There are provisions for criminal offences (regulation 7), replacement of hedgerows removed in contravention of the regulations (regulation 8), appeals against hedgerow retention and other notices (regulation 9), record-keeping by the local planning authority (regulation 10), enforcement by injunction (regulation 11) and rights of entry (regulations 12 to 14). There are also provisions for hedgerows owned by the local planning authority (regulation 15) and ecclesiastical property (regulation 16(1)). Some of these further provisions apply provisions of planning legislation and others make provision comparable to that to be found in the planning legislation in connection with appeals or with the preservation of trees. The criterion for determining important hedgerows set out in paragraph 6 of Part II of Schedule 1 refers to publications known as Red Data Books. Copies of those publications are available from specialist bookshops and are available for inspection between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday at the offices of the Department of the Environment, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1 and of the Welsh Office at Cathay’s Park, Cardiff.

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