UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 11 of The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Measures for the Recovery of the Stock of Cod) (Irish Sea) Order 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

11 Any person who— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by articles 6, 7 or 8 of this Order; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c assaults an officer who is exercising any of the powers conferred on him by articles 6 to 9 of this Order or internationally obstructs any such officer in the exercise of any of those powers, shall be guilty of an offence and liable— i on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; or ii on conviction on indictment to a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

11 Any person who— a fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by articles 6, 7 or 8 of this Order; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complyi

What would breach article 11?

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 Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Measures for the Recovery of the Stock of Cod) (Irish Sea) Order 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
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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 February 2000
In force from
25 February 2000
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

The Order makes provision for the enforcement of restrictions concerning the conservation of fishery resources through measures for the recovery of the stock of cod in the Irish Sea (ICES Division VIIa) which are contained in Article 1, as read with Article 1.2 and 1.3, of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 304/2000 (OJ No. L35, 10.2.2000, p.10) (“the Commission Regulation”). Article 1 of the Commission Regulation prohibits, during the period 14th February 2000 to 30th April 2000, the use of specified types of nets and fishing gear within a specified geographical area of the Irish Sea. The Order also makes provision for the enforcement of a requirement in relation to the percentage composition of catches of target species taken by different ranges of mesh sizes which is contained in article 4(4)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98, for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, as read with article 2 of the Commission Regulation. Article 2 of the Commission Regulation disapplies transitional measures for 2000 laid down in footnote 6 of Annex I of Council Regulation 850/98, which might otherwise allow a high number of target species to be taken as by-catch in the Irish Sea. Article 3 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of Article 1 of the Commission Regulation or Article 4(4)(b) of Council Regulation 850/98. Penalties, which may include the forfeiture of fish, nets and other fishing gear, are specified for such offences (article 4). The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats and on land and in relation to the seizure of fish and fishing gear (articles 6, 7 and 8) as well as on other officers in relation to nets and fishing gear (article 9). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of obstructing or assaulting an officer (article 11). Provision is also made for the prosecution of offenders in England and Northern Ireland and for proceedings by local fisheries committees (article 13). The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Order is currently £5,000. The Order provides powers for the recovery of fines imposed by a magistrates' court in England or Northern Ireland (article 5). Articles 10, 12 and 14 contain ancillary provisions. The Order does not form part of the law of Scotland. It does not apply in relation to fishing activities within the territorial sea of Wales. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Commission Regulation has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Fisheries III Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Room 421d, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

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