UK Offence Report

Prescribed contents of the written statement given under section 453B(4) or sent under section 453B(5)

regulation 2 of The Companies Act 1985 (Power to Enter and Remain on Premises: Procedural) 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

2 The written statement which section 453B(4) requires the inspector or investigator to give to an appropriate recipient (or which section 453B(5), where it applies, requires him to send to the company) must contain the following information— a a statement that the inspector or investigator has been appointed or (as the case may be) authorised by the Secretary of State to carry out an investigation and a reference to the enactment under which that appointment or authorisation was made; b a statement that the inspector or investigator has been authorised by the Secretary of State under section 453A to exercise the powers in that section; c a description of the conditions which are required by section 453A(1) to be satisfied before an inspector or investigator can act under section 453A(2); d a description of the powers in sub-section 453A(2); e a statement that the inspector or investigator must, at the time he seeks to enter premises under section 453A, produce evidence of his identity and evidence of his appointment or authorisation (as the case may be); f a statement that any person accompanying the inspector or investigator when the inspector or investigator seeks to enter the premises must, at that time, produce evidence of his identity; g a statement that entry to premises under section 453A may be refused to an inspector, investigator or other person who fails to produce the evidence referred to (in the case of an inspector or investigator) in paragraph (e) or (in the case of any other person) in paragraph (f); h a statement that the company, occupier and the persons present on the premises may be required by the inspector or investigator, while he is on the premises, to comply with any powers the inspector or investigator may have by virtue of his appointment or authorisation (as the case may be) to require documents or information; i a statement that the inspector or investigator is not permitted to use any force in exercising his powers under section 453A and is not permitted during the course of his visit to search the premises or to seize any document or other thing on the premises; j a description of the effect of section 453C as it relates to a requirement imposed by an inspector or investigator under section 453A; k a statement that it is an offence under section 453A(5) intentionally to obstruct an inspector, investigator or other person lawfully acting under section 453A; l a description of the inspector’s or investigator’s obligations under section 453B(6) and (7) to prepare a written record of the visit and to give a copy of the record, when requested, to the company and any other occupier of the premises; and m information about how any person entitled under section 453B(6) to receive a copy of that record can request it.

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 company
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 2?

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 Companies Act 1985 (Power to Enter and Remain on Premises: Procedural) Regulations 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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
9 March 2005
In force from
6 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.

Section 453A of the Companies Act 1985 confers on inspectors appointed under section 431, 432 or 442 and investigators authorised under section 447 powers to enter and remain on premises which they believe are used for the purposes of the business of the company they are investigating. Section 453B imposes procedural requirements in connection with the exercise of these powers. Among these procedural requirements are— a a requirement for an inspector or investigator, as soon as practicable after obtaining entry to premises, to give to an “appropriate recipient” a written statement containing information about the powers in section 453A and the rights and obligations of the company, the occupier and the persons present on the premises; and b a requirement for the inspector or investigator to prepare, as soon as reasonably practicable after his visit to the premises, a written record of that visit. “Appropriate recipient” is defined in section 453B(8) and (9). Where there is no appropriate recipient present, the written statement of rights and obligations must be sent to the company under investigation, together with a notice of the fact and time that the visit to the premises took place. Section 453B provides for Regulations to prescribe the information which the written statement of rights and obligations and the written record of the visit must contain. Regulation 2 of these Regulations prescribes the contents of the written statement and Regulation 3 prescribes the contents of the written record. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business is available from the DTI, Companies Investigation Branch, PO Box 447, London SW1H OWU, and is also available electronically at http://www.dti.gov.uk/companiesbill/index.htm. A copy of the regulatory impact assessment has been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

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 0.90.

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