UK Offence Report

Obstruction of British sea-fishery officers

article 20(1) of The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2004

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

1 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 16 and 17; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c assaults a person who is exercising any of the powers conferred on him by articles 16 to 18 or intentionally obstructs him in the exercise of any of those powers, is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

1 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 16 and 17; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any su

What would breach article 20(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 Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2005
Revoked on
28 February 2005
Made
17 February 2004
In force from
19 February 2004
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 provides for the enforcement in England of the provisions of Annex V (“the Annex”) to Council Regulation (EC) 2287/2003 (OJ No. L344 31.12.2003. p. 1) fixing for 2004 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required. The Order contains provisions relating to the aggregation of management periods (article 3), the number of days which a vessel may be absent from port (article 4), the use of regulated fishing gear (article 5) and the manner in which days may be transferred between fishing vessels within the same management period (article 6). Further, the Order sets out provisions for the transportation of cod (article 7), a provision relating to the mixing of species within containers on board fishing vessels (article 8), procedures for the landing of cod in designated and non-designated ports (articles 9 to 11), a margin of tolerance relating to the recording of catches of fish in logbooks (article 12) and provisions relating to the maintenance of logbooks (article 13). The Order creates offences in respect of the contravention, by the person in charge of the relevant fishing boat (or the individuals otherwise specifically referred to) of provisions of the Annex. The offences relate to absences from port without notified fishing gear (article 3) or in excess of the days permitted (article 4), failure to use regulated fishing gear in the manner set out in the Annex (article 5), giving false information when attempting to transfer days from one vessel to another (article 6), transporting cod (article 7) or mixing of species (article 8) in a manner inconsistent with the Annex, the landing of cod in designated and non designated ports in contravention of notification and documentary requirements (articles 9 to 11), and failing to comply with the 8% tolerance for logbook records relating to catches of fish and failure to handover and dispatch logbooks in the manner prescribed (articles 12 and 13). The Order provides that a person guilty of an offence under it other than an offence under article 20 is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 and on conviction on indictment to a fine. Further fines up to and including the value of any fish caught in committing the offence are permitted and the court may also order the seizure of fish caught or equipment used in, or in activities leading to, the commission of the offence (article 14). The Order also provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court (article 15). For the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Annex as applied above, the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (articles 16 to 18). Protection of such officers from liability is set out in article 19, and impeding them is an offence under article 20, with a fine of up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. Articles 21 and 22 deal with corporate and equivalent offences and admissibility of documents in evidence. Consequential amendment and revocation is covered in articles 23 and 24. In addition article 23 includes further provision bringing forward the time for submission of logbook entries for landings in designated ports. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Annex and this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Defra, Fisheries Division 1, Room 303, 10 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH.

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