UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 9(1) of The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) (England) Regulations 2004

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 Any person who—

a intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of

a power conferred by regulation 7; or

b without reasonable cause fails to comply with

a request made under regulation 8, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 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 Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) (England) Regulations 2004.
  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
£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
Status not determined
Made
5 December 2004
In force from
1 January 2005
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 make provision in England for the administration and enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (OJ No L 270, 21.10.2003, p.1) (“the Council Regulation”) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 (OJ No L 141, 30.4.2004, p.18) (“the Commission Regulation”) in relation to cross compliance under the new system of direct support schemes (including the Single Payment Scheme) under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to come into force on 1 January 2005. “Cross compliance” links the payment of direct aid to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy to compliance with a range of laws and standards (see Article 6 of the Council Regulation). Annex III to the Council Regulation contains a list of “statutory management requirements” in areas of Community law on the environment, public and animal health and animal welfare. Under Article 5(1) of the Council Regulation, Member States must set out standards of “good agricultural and environmental condition” which will apply to all farmers, within the framework in Annex IV to that Regulation. The Regulations provide as follows: Regulation 3 designates the Secretary of State as the competent national authority responsible for providing farmers with a list of the statutory management requirements and standards of good agricultural and environmental condition on his land. Regulation 4, by reference to the Schedule, sets out the standards of good agricultural and environmental condition which will apply in England, as required under Article 5(1) of the Council Regulation. It also provides that farmers with agri-environment commitments which directly and necessarily conflict with the standards will not be penalised for breaching the standards. The standards in the Schedule cover the following areas— Retention of guidance on soil management (paragraph 1) Post-harvest management of land after combinable crops (paragraph 2) Waterlogged soil (paragraph 3) Burning of crop residues (paragraphs 4 and 5) Overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding (paragraph 6) Management of land which is not in agricultural production (paragraph 7) Control of weeds (paragraphs 8 and 9) Protection of hedgerows and watercourses (paragraph 10) Hedgerows (paragraphs 11 and 12) Stone walls (paragraph 14) Environmental impact assessment (paragraphs 15 and 16) Heather and grass burning (paragraph 17) Sites of special scientific interest (paragraphs 18 to 22) Tree preservation orders (paragraph 23) Scheduled monuments (paragraph 24) Felling of trees (paragraph 25) Public rights of way (paragraphs 26 to 29) Regulation 5 gives the Secretary of the State the power to prohibit farmers from converting land under permanent pasture, and to oblige farmers to reconvert land to permanent pasture, where the exercise of powers these is necessary in order for the United Kingdom to meet the requirements of Article 5(2) of the Council Regulation and Articles 3 and 4 of the Commission Regulation. Regulation 6 exercises a derogation under Article 42 of Commission Regulation 796/2004 to designate the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) as the Competent Control Authority. The Agency shall be responsible for carrying out the controls on the requirements or standards set out in these Regulations and the Council Regulation. It enables the Rural Payment Agency to require the relevant authorities to carry out controls. The regulation imposes statutory duties on English Nature and the Environment Agency to send provisional control reports to the RPA and to notify the RPA on any non-compliance established as a consequence of any kind of check. Regulation 7 provides powers of entry for an authorised person. These powers are in addition to any existing power of entry and are for the purpose of providing a control report, establishing a non-compliance or ascertaining whether an offence under these Regulations has been or is being committed. Regulations 8 and 9 provide for an authorised person to request assistance and for offences of obstructing an authorised person and failing to provide assistance. A handbook setting out the standards in the Schedule is available (PB 10222A). This, and further guidance (available early in 2005) on soil management (PB 10222B) and on the management of habitat and landscape features (PB 10222C) will be sent to all farmers. Further copies are available from Defra Publications, Admail 6000, London SW1A 2XX. Telephone 08459 556 000. Fax 020 8957 5012. Email: defra@iforcegroup.com. A full regulatory impact assessment on the effect that cross compliance will have on the costs of business is available from Defra Information Resource Centre, Lower Ground Floor, Ergon House, c/o Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR, or at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/capsingle-payment/index.htm.

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