UK Offence Report

Obstruction of authorised officers

regulation 34(1) of The Timeshare, Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Contracts 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 A person commits an offence if the person—

a intentionally obstructs an officer of an enforcement authority acting in pursuance of these Regulations,

b intentionally fails to comply with any requirement properly made of the person by such an officer under regulation 33,

c without reasonable cause fails to give such an officer any other assistance or information which the officer may reasonably require of the person for the purpose of the officer’s functions under these Regulations.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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 34(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 Timeshare, Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Contracts 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown 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 (2011-02-23); 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
11 December 2010
In force from
23 February 2011
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 Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts (OJ No L 33, 3.2.2009 p10) (“the Directive”). Part 2 contains key definitions and describes the timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts that are covered by these Regulations. Part 3 sets out the requirements that must be complied with before a trader enters into a regulated contract with a consumer. This includes requirements relating to advertising and marketing and the information that must be provided to the consumer in good time before the contract is entered into. Part 4 sets out requirements relating to the regulated contract, including obligations to draw the attention of the consumer to matters relating to the right to withdrawal and the prohibition on advance consideration. This Chapter also makes requirements as to the language of the contract. Part 5 makes provisions relating to the termination of a regulated contract, including the consumer’s right to withdraw from the contract without penalty during a 14 day withdrawal period. Part 6 prohibits a trader from accepting payment from the consumer during the withdrawal period and makes provisions relating to the payment schedule for long-term holiday product contracts. Part 7 sets out the penalties for offences under these Regulations. A person who fails to comply with regulations 12, 14, 15 or 17 may also commit an offence under Part 2 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/1277). Part 8 places a duty to enforce the Regulations on local weights and measures authorities and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland. Part 9 repeals the Timeshare Act 1992 and revokes both the Timeshare Regulations 1997 (S.I. 1997/1081) and the Timeshare Act 1992 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1922). Schedules 1 to 5 set out the standard information forms that the trader is required to use under these Regulations. Schedule 6 makes consequential amendments. Paragraph 3 amends schedule 13 to the Enterprise Act 2002 so that contravention of the Directive can be enforced under that Act as a Community infringement. Schedule 7 contains transitional and savings provisions. Schedule 8 contains repeals and revocations. A transposition note and an impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs to business and the voluntary sector are available from the BIS website (www.bis.gov.uk). They are also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk). Copies have also been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

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 0.92.

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