UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 9(1) of The England Rural Development Programme (Enforcement) Regulations 2000

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 A person is guilty of an offence if—

a for the purposes of obtaining financial assistance for himself or any other person under an enactment specified in Part II or III of the Schedule, he knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b he intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or

a person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of his powers under regulation 3, in so far as exercisable in relation to

a commitment entered into pursuant to an enactment specified in Part II or III of the Schedule, or an application to enter into any such commitment.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 9(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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the England Rural Development Programme (Enforcement) Regulations 2000.
  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

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2000-12-05); 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
Status not determined
Made
9 November 2000
In force from
5 December 2000
Extent
E

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 implement Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1750/1999 (O.J. No. L214, 13.8.1999, p. 31) (“the Commission Regulation”) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 (O.J. No. L160, 26.6.99, p. 80) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (“the Council Regulation”). In particular they implement Article 48(2) of the Commission Regulation (which requires member States to determine a system of penalties to be imposed in the event of a breach of obligations) by granting the Minister powers to withhold or recover payments and take certain other action, including termination of the commitment (and of entitlement to payments in respect of it), in the event of a breach of an undertaking to comply with any condition of payment by the Minister under specified enactments, and in certain other events (regulations 4, 5 and 6). The enactments are those specified in the Schedule, all of which implement provisions of the Council Regulation and the England Rural Development Programme approved by the Commission under Article 44 of the Council Regulation. Regulation 7 provides power to recover interest on sums recovered. The Regulations also create offences in respect of the furnishing of false information for the purpose of obtaining aid and obstruction (regulation 9). The England Rural Development Programme, together with a copy of Commission Decision No. C(2000) 3003 approving it, is available for inspection at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (“MAFF”), 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations.

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 0.92.

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