UK Offence Report

Obstruction

regulation 6(1) of The Cattle Identification (Enforcement) 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

1 No person shall—

a intentionally obstruct any person acting in the execution of these Regulations;

b without reasonable cause, fail to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him for the purposes of his functions under these Regulations; or

c furnish to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any information which he knows to be false or misleading; and any person who contravenes or fails to comply with this regulation shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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: intentionally.

What would breach regulation 6(1)?

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 contravenes or fails to comply with this regulation.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Cattle Identification (Enforcement) 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
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
31 July 1997
In force from
22 August 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 create offences for breach of— Article 4.3 (imports of cattle from third countries) Article 4.5 (removal of ear tags) Article 7.1 (keeping a register) Article 7.3 (provision of information) and Article 7.4 (production and retention of the register) of Council Regulation 820/97/EC (establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (OJ No. L 117, 7.5.97, p. 1)). They provide that the competent authority for the purposes of Articles 4.1, 4.5 and 4.6 of that Regulation is the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. They specify the form of a register and when it shall be filled in (regulation 3 and the Schedule). They give powers to inspectors and officers of the Minister (regulations 4 and 5), create offences of obstruction and provide for offences by a body corporate (regulations 6 and 7). Breach of the Regulations is an offence punishable— for obstruction, on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both. for any other offence, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both; on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both (regulation 8). They are enforced by the Minister, the Secretary of State and the local authority (regulation 9). They revoke the Bovine Animals (Identification, Marking and Breeding Records) Order 1990 and parts of the Bovine Animals (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1995. They amend the Suckler Cow Premium Regulations 1993 and the Beef Special Premium Regulations 1996 (Regulation 10). A Compliance Cost Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Animal Health (Disease Control) Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Government Buildings, Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7NF.

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