Obstruction of officers

article 11(1) of The Incidental Catches of Cetaceans in Fisheries (England) Order 2005 (revoked)

• Status not determined
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Either way
• Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries

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 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 7, 8 or 9; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; or c assaults an officer, or a person assisting an officer, who is exercising any of the powers conferred on him by article 7,8 or 9 or intentionally obstructs any such officer in the exercise of any of those powers, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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 7, 8 or 9; b without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any su

What would breach article 11(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 Incidental Catches of Cetaceans in Fisheries (England) Order 2005.
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

Unlimited

Maximum prison (summary)

Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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.

• Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales

  How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.

• Environmental offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2014

  Covers unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste, illegal discharges to air, land and water, and the equivalent offences committed by organisations. It is the guideline that introduced turnover bands for corporate fines, so the size of the defendant company is a starting point rather than a mitigating detail.

• Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016

  Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.

• Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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

10 January 2005

In force from

2 February 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision for the enforcement of Community restrictions and other obligations relating to sea fishing by vessels in certain areas as set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 812/2004 (OJ No. L150, 30.04.04, p. 12, as amended by Corrigendum OJ No L185 24.05.04, p. 4). The Council regulation requires Member States to monitor the bycatch of cetaceans by the implementation of an observer scheme. It also requires certain vessels to deploy acoustic devices in relation to specified gear whilst fishing. This Order comes into force on 2nd February 2005. It does not form part of the law of Scotland or Northern Ireland and does not apply in Wales. Article 4 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of the specified provisions of the Council Regulation. Penalties are specified for such offences (article 5). Provision is made for the recovery of fines (article 6). The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers in relation to certain fishing boats, as well as on land in England, and in relation to the seizure of fish, acoustic devices and fishing gear (articles 7, 8, 9, and 10). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of assaulting or obstructing an officer (article 11). The Order provides for the exercise of the powers contained in it by officers authorised by the Minister and officers of local fisheries committees (article 12). Proceedings under the Order may be brought by a local fisheries committee in respect of offences committed within any part of its district (article 13). Article 14 makes provision in relation to offences committed by bodies corporate, partnerships and officers of unincorporated associations. Article 15 allows for the admissibility in evidence of records compiled for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 2847/93.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

• Where there is in relation to— a any relevant British fishing boat wherever it may be, or b any other…article 4(1)
• Where there is a contravention of, or failure to comply with article 3 of this Order, the master, the owner…article 4(2)

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

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• The Incidental Catches of Cetaceans in Fisheries (England) Order 2005 (revoked) Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheriesOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 2005