UK Offence Report

3 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene any requirement imposed by an inspector under paragraph 2…

regulation 12(3) of The Civil Aviation (Working Time) 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

3 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene any requirement imposed by an inspector under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2; b to prevent or attempt to prevent any other person from appearing before an inspector or from answering any question to which an inspector may by virtue of paragraph 2(2)(e) of Schedule 2 require an answer; c to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 (including any such notice as is modified on appeal); d intentionally to obstruct an inspector in the exercise or performance of his powers; e to use or disclose any information in contravention of paragraph 8 of Schedule 2; f to make a statement which he knows to be false or recklessly to make a statement which is false where the statement is made in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under these Regulations.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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, 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: intentionally, recklessly.

What would breach regulation 12(3)?

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 Civil Aviation (Working Time) 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2004-04-13); 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
11 March 2004
In force from
13 April 2004
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 implement the provisions of Council Directive 2000/79/EC concerning the European Agreement on the Organisation of Working Time of Mobile Workers in Civil Aviation concluded by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Transport Worker’s Federation (ETF), the European Cockpit Association (ECA), the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) (OJ L 302, 1.12.2000, p. 57). Regulations 5(2), 6, 7(2)(a) and 8 to 10 in these Regulations impose obligations enforceable by the Civil Aviation Authority; failure to comply is an offence. The obligations concern the wrongful disclosure of a health assessment, the maximum annual working time of crew members, the provision or crew members of adequate health and safety protection services and facilities at work along with adequate rest breaks to be given to crew members where work is organised in a certain pattern. Crew members are also entitled to a minimum number of rest days, free from all duties, in every calendar month and year and employers are obliged to provide information on the working patterns of crew members which must be kept for not less than two years. The term crew member is defined in regulation 3. Regulations 4, 5(1), (4) and 7(1) and (2)(b) confer rights on crew members, enforceable by proceedings before employment tribunals. The rights establish a crew members' entitlement to annual leave, a free health assessment prior to starting work and at regular intervals thereafter as well as the right to be moved from night work to more suitable work if that assessment reveals health problems due to working at night. Employers are also obliged to consider adapting a crew member’s work and offering him alternative work if he organises work according to a certain pattern. The remaining regulations make provision for definitions, for medical practitioners to advise employers where an employee is suffering from health problems, for enforcement and remedies (regulations 3, 5(3), 11 to 18). 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 Department for Transport, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR. Alternatively copies can be obtained from the Department for Transport’s website which is at www.dft.gov.uk. A transposition note has been prepared and copies may be obtained from the Department for Transport, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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