UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers of the competent authority

regulation 11 of The Civil Aviation (Insurance) Regulations 2005

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

11 A person who intentionally obstructs or impedes

a relevant authority acting in exercise of his functions under regulation

10 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 11?

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 intentionally obstructs or impedes a relevant authority acting in exercise of his functions under regulation 10.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Civil Aviation (Insurance) Regulations 2005.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
2 April 2005
In force from
30 April 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 to comply with obligations of the United Kingdom under Regulation 785/04 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators (“the Insurance Regulation”). The Insurance Regulation obliges air carriers and other aircraft operators to take out insurance meeting minimum levels of cover in respect of liability for passengers, baggage, cargo and third parties. Member States must ensure that these requirements are complied with. Regulation 3 provides that the Civil Aviation Authority is to act as the competent authority for the purposes of enforcement of the Insurance Regulation, except in relation to holders of permits under articles 113 or 115 of the Air Navigation Order 2000 (permits to fly certain aircraft registered outside the United Kingdom), where the Secretary of State will exercise the relevant functions. Regulation 4 makes it a criminal offence for air carriers and other aircraft operators to fail to take out insurance meeting the requirements of the Insurance Regulation. This offence does not extend to air carriers or aircraft operators regulated by other Member States of the European Community. Regulation 5 sets the level of minimum insurance in respect of liability for passengers in the case of non-commercial operations using aircraft with a maximum take off mass of 2700kg or less. Regulations 6 to 8 place obligations on air carriers and other aircraft operators to provide the CAA or the Secretary of State with information relating to their insurance for liability in respect of passengers, baggage, cargo and third parties. Regulation 9 makes it a criminal offence in certain circumstances to provide false insurance details. Regulation 10 provides for aircraft to be prevented from taking off where it appears that requirements of the Insurance Regulation will be contravened. It is an offence under regulation 11 to obstruct or impede a relevant authority who is seeking to prevent take off. Regulation 12 specifies the maximum penalties which will apply in the case of the criminal offences created by the preceding provisions. At present the maximum fines referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (2) of this regulation are £5000 and £1000 respectively. 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, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR. Alternatively copies can be obtained from the Department’s website which is at www.dft.gov.uk.

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 0.92.

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