UK Offence Report

Obstruction of officers

article 12(1) of The Sea Fishing (Prohibition on the Removal of Shark Fins) Order 2007 (revoked)

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 A person is guilty of an offence if—

a without reasonable excuse, he fails to comply with any requirement imposed by

a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on him by this Order;

b without reasonable excuse, he prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement;

c he assaults or intentionally obstructs

a British sea-fishery officer, or

a person assisting the officer, while exercising any powers under this Order.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 A person is guilty of an offence if— a without reasonable excuse, he fails to comply with any requirement imposed by a British sea-fishery officer under the powers conferred on him by this Order; b without reasonable excuse, he prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; c h

What would breach article 12(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 Sea Fishing (Prohibition on the Removal of Shark Fins) Order 2007.
  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.

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
1 September 2007
In force from
1 October 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 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 the removal of shark fins on board vessels as set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 1185/2003 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels (OJ No L167, 04.07.2003, p.1). This Order applies to English and Welsh fishing boats wherever they are, except when they are within the territorial sea adjacent to Wales, and to all other boats in British fishery limits, excluding the Scottish zone, the Northern Ireland zone, the territorial sea adjacent to Wales and the territorial seas of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Article 4 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of those Articles of the Regulation referred to in column 1 of the Schedule to the Order. Penalties are specified for such offences in article 5. Provision is made for the recovery of fines in article 6. The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers (articles 7, 8 and 10). Article 9 allows a justice of the peace to issue warrants for entry to premises. Article 11 makes provision for the protection of British sea-fishery officers and their assistants and article 12 provides for offences and penalties should they be obstructed in the course of their investigations under this Order. Article 13 makes provision in respect of offences by bodies corporate, partnerships and unincorporated associations. Article 14 allows for the admissibility in evidence of records compiled for the purposes of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (OJ No L261, 20.10.93, p.1). An Impact Assessment in relation to this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Defra, Sea Fisheries Conservation Division, Area 7B, 3-8 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH.

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 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