UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 9(1) of The Organic Products (Imports from Third Countries) Regulations 2003 (revoked)

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 he— a intentionally obstructs an authorised officer carrying out his functions under these Regulations; b for the purpose of obtaining the release for free circulation in the Community of a consignment, knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false in a material particular; c in relation to the requirements for retention of a certificate of inspection, contravenes Article 11.3(a) of the Council Regulation; d contravenes Article 4.12, 5 or 6 of the Commission Regulation; e contravenes regulation 4 or 7; f knowing a consignment to be a controlled consignment— i moves it; or ii causes it to be moved, otherwise than in accordance with the written consent of an authorised officer; or g knowing a consignment to be a controlled consignment— i removes from it; or ii causes to be removed from it, a label which has been affixed under regulation 5(5).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (for the purpose of obtaining, 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, for the purpose of obtaining, 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 Organic Products (Imports from Third Countries) Regulations 2003.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ 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 (2003-12-01); 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
5 November 2003
In force from
1 December 2003
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, which apply to the United Kingdom, provide for the implementation of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1788/2001 (“the Commission Regulation”) in relation to imports of consignments of organic products from third countries under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (“the Council Regulation”). The Regulations— specify that they are to be enforced by the relevant local authority (a Port Health Authority, port or joint port local authority or district or other council) at the place of import (regulation 3); require a person seeking the release of the consignment into free circulation in the Community to give advance notice of its arrival (regulation 4); enable an authorised officer to prohibit the movement of a consignment (defined as a “controlled consignment”) if he has reason to believe that there has been a failure to comply with the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation (regulation 5); enable the authorised officer to consent to the movement of a controlled consignment provided certain conditions are satisfied (regulation 6); requires the importer to give an authorised officer such assistance as he may reasonably require (regulation 7); require the local authority to charge for verifying the consignment, or for prohibiting the movement of the consignment (regulation 8); specify offences for contravention of the Council Regulation and Commission Regulation, of regulations 4 and 7 and for the unauthorised movement of a controlled consignment (regulations 9 and 10); provide protection for authorised officers acting in good faith (regulation 11). A regulatory impact assessment has been produced and a copy placed in the Library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the Organic Farming Branch, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Area 5F, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL (telephone number: 020 7238 5777) or from the Department’s website, and from the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY.

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