UK Offence Report

Amendments to the 2002 Act

regulation 17 of The Enterprise Act 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2006

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

Obstructing, or failing to co-operate with, powers of entry 227E

1 A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he intentionally obstructs, or fails to co-operate with, an officer of

a CPC enforcer who is exercising or seeking to exercise

a power under sections 227A to 227D.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (believing that, 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

ith, powers of entry 227E 1 A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he intentionally obstructs, or fails to co-operate with, an officer of a CPC enforcer who is exercising or seeking to exercise a power under sections 227A to 227D.

What would breach regulation 17?

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 Enterprise Act 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2006.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2007-01-08); 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
14 December 2006
In force from
8 January 2007
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 Articles 4(6) and 13(4) of Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, as amended by Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (the “CPC Regulation”). The CPC Regulation creates a network of enforcers which are responsible for taking action to stamp out cross border infringements of the EC consumer protection legislation set out in the Annex to the said Regulation. Article 4(6), which prescribes the powers which enforcers under the CPC Regulation must have, requires further implementation. Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the “2002 Act”) confers some of the enforcement powers referred to in the CPC Regulation on certain bodies in relation to most (but not all) of the EC consumer protection legislation which the CPC Regulation applies to. Most of the Regulations amend Part 8 to ensure that the powers set out in Article 4(6) of the CPC Regulation may be exercised in accordance with the terms of the said Regulation. Regulation 17 adds entry and inspection powers to Part 8 of the 2002 Act along with certain procedural safeguards and a criminal offence of obstructing officers of enforcers Part 8 to give effect to Article 4(6)(c) of the CPC Regulation, since Part 8 does not contain entry and inspection powers. Regulation 11 gives details of the bodies which are entitled to exercise those powers. Regulation 12 restricts the scope of CPC enforcers’ activities by providing that they may only apply for an enforcement order in relation to Community infringements. Regulation 13 gives give effect to Article 4(6)(e) of the CPC Regulation by giving CPC enforcers the power to publish (or to obtain an undertaking to publish) an undertaking obtained other than in connection with proceedings to obtain an enforcement order. Regulation 16 extends the power in section 226 of the 2002 Act to enable enforcers to obtain information in any form (in accordance with Article 4(6)(a) of the CPC Regulation). Regulation 20 clarifies how references to those bodies, where they already act as enforcers under Part 8 are to be interpreted. The remainder of regulations 4 to 19 make amendments to Part 8 which are ancillary to the substantive provisions described above. Regulation 21 ensures that the entry and inspection powers do not apply to premises occupied by the Crown. Regulation 22 adds the three pieces of Community legislation to Schedule 13 of the 2002 Act to which CPC applies but Part 8 does not. Regulation 23 ensures that certain powers and protections which the Financial Service Authority enjoys under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 which are necessary for the proper discharge of its functions under the CPC Regulation will apply to the discharge of those functions. Regulation 28 applies the enhanced seizure powers contained in section 50 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (the “2001 Act”) to the power of entry and inspection under warrant set out in regulation 17. Regulation 26(1) ensures that the definition of legal professional privilege in regulation 17 applies where the issue of privilege arises in the context of the exercise of powers under the 2001 Act by CPC enforcers. Regulations 25, 26(2) and (3) and 27 make certain ancillary amendments to the 2001 Act. Regulation 29 implements Article 13(4) of the CPC Regulation by ensuring that the subject access provisions in the Data Protection Act 1998 do not obstruct the proper functioning of the CPC Regulation. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business is available from Duncan Lawson, Bay 407, Department of Trade & Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET.

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 “commits 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