UK Offence Report

Obstruction of work

article 9 of The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Harbour Revision Order 2002

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

9 Any person who intentionally obstructs any person acting under the authority of the Company in setting out the lines of the work, or who interferes with, moves or removes any pole, stake, station point or bench mark established for the purpose of such setting out, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (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 article 9?

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 interferes with, moves or removes any pole, stake, station point or bench mark established for the purpose of such setting out.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Harbour Revision Order 2002.
  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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Harbour Revision Order 2007
Revoked on
13 November 2007
Made
10 October 2002
In force from
31 October 2002
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order authorises the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company (the applicants for the Order) to construct and maintain a specified work at Felixstowe and to carry out subsidiary works. The specified work, together with adjacent land of the Company used for the business, form the undertaking of the Company. The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Act 1988 and the Harwich Haven Act 1974 are amended by articles 3 and 8 respectively of this Order. The Order also extends the limits of jurisdiction of the Company as a harbour authority. The deposited plans and sections referred to in the Order may be inspected during normal working hours at the offices of the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company at Tomline House, The Dock, Felixstowe, IP11 3SY, and at the offices of the Secretary of State for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1 4DR.

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