UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Woodbury Common Range Byelaws 2009

the instrument as a whole of The Woodbury Common Range Byelaws 2009

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 17(2) of the Military Lands Act 1892. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 Woodbury Common Range Byelaws 2009.
  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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 17(2) of the Military Lands Act 1892.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
10 December 2009
In force from
31 March 2010
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 Byelaws) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

Part II of the Military Lands Act 1892 (c.43) provides for the making of byelaws for regulating the use of land held for military purposes and securing the safety of the public. These byelaws so regulate the land at Woodbury Common. The land subject to these byelaws, together the Protected Area and the Controlled Area, comprise land which the Secretary of State for Defence leases from the Clinton Devon Estate. A copy of these byelaws and a plan showing the Protected Area and Controlled Area to which these byelaws apply may be inspected on the Ministry of Defence website http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/De/WhatWeDo/Byelaws Copies have also been deposited with the Exmouth library, 40 Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon EX8 1PS, the County Records Office for the area and can be inspected on signboards erected locally. Copies may be obtained from the Librarian, Defence Estates, Kingston Road, Sutton Coldfield B75 7RL. Section 17(2) of the Military Lands Act 1892 provides that any person who commits an offence against any byelaw made under that Act is liable on conviction before a court of summary jurisdiction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. At the time of printing the maximum fine payable on level 2 is FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS (£500). Any person seeking a permission in accordance with byelaw 8(b) should apply in writing to the Byelaws Appointed Person, SO1 Training, Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, Lympstone, Exmouth, Devon EX8 5AR.

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 0.67.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.67 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