UK Offence Report

Obstruction etc.

regulation 15(1) of The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010

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 It is an offence for any person—

a intentionally to obstruct an authorised person acting in the pursuance of their powers or duties under RAMS;

b knowingly or recklessly to make

a statement which is false or misleading in purported compliance with any requirement imposed by Article

19 of RAMS.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 15(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 Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010.
  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 (2010-11-20); 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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 9872 — 09872 - Contravention of or causing or permitting another person to contravene any of Regulations 3-5, 8 or 9 (Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010). That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
27 October 2010
In force from
20 November 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement the requirements of Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (OJ No L285,31.10.2009, p10) and implements elements of the market surveillance Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93 (“RAMS”) (OJ No L128 13.8.2008, p30). It also gives effect to any applicable implementing measures which are made pursuant to the Directive. These Regulations also give effect to Decision No 768/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common framework for the marketing of products, and repealing Council Decision 93/465/EEC (OJ No L 218, 13,8.2008, p82). Regulation 3 requires that an energy-related product must not be placed on the market or put into service unless it complies with an applicable implementing measure. Schedule 1 sets out the requirements for a declaration of conformity and lists energy-related products and their applicable implementing measures. Regulation 4 requires that a manufacturer of an energy-related product and components sub-assemblies must not place it on the market or put it into service unless it has assessed whether it complies with an applicable implementing measure and if it does comply it must make a declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking which is shown in Schedule 2. Regulation 5 imposes similar requirements on authorised representatives and importers of energy-related products. Regulation 6 provides that regulation 3 does not apply to displays of energy-related products. Regulation 7 sets out presumptions in relation to an energy-related product. Regulation 8 prohibits the affixing of a CE marking to an energy-related product which may mislead a person to believe that an energy-related product complies with an applicable implementing measure. Regulation 9 requires documents relating to conformity assessments of energy-related products to be kept for 10 years. Regulation 10 designates the Secretary of State as the competent national authority and the notifying authority for the purposes of Decision No 768/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and designates the Secretary of State as the market surveillance authority for the purposes of RAMS. Schedule 3 sets out the appeals procedure in relation to decisions of notified bodies. Regulation 12 provides that the market surveillance authority may authorise any suitable person to act for it. Schedules 4 and 5 deal with warrants in relation to powers of entry exercised under RAMS, testing costs which the market surveillance authority may recover from manufactures and civil sanctions which the market surveillance authority may impose. Regulations 14 to 17 set out offences, penalties and related matters. Regulation 18 allows a court to make a remediation order in respect of a person convicted of an offence under these Regulations. Regulation 19 provides for the recovery of expenses of enforcement.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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