UK Offence Report

Restriction of access to dead bodies

regulation 10(5) of The Health Protection (Local Authority Powers) 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

5 An offence is committed if, without reasonable excuse—

a M fails to arrange for

a copy of the notice to be displayed at each of the entry points to the room in accordance with paragraph (3);

b any person removes or defaces

a notice displayed under paragraph (3); or

c any person fails to comply with

a notice displayed under paragraph (3).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to comply with a notice or direction
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

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.

“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: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

5 An offence is committed if, without reasonable excuse— a M fails to arrange for a copy of the notice to be displayed at each of the entry points to the room in accordance with paragraph (3); b any person removes or defaces a notice displayed under paragraph (3); or c any person fails to comply with a notice disp

What would breach regulation 10(5)?

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. Being served with a notice under the Health Protection (Local Authority Powers) Regulations 2010 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  2. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  3. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
9 March 2010
In force from
6 April 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 confer discretionary powers on local authorities (including powers to impose restrictions and requirements) for the purposes of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection or contamination which presents or could present significant harm to human health. The Regulations also place an obligation on third parties to co-operate in a particular circumstance. Regulation 2 enables a local authority to require that a child is kept away from school. Regulation 3 enables the local authority to require that a headteacher provide it with the names and contact details of the pupils at that headteacher’s school. Regulations 4 to 7 enable a local authority to disinfect or decontaminate things or premises (including conveyances) on request from the owner or the person with charge or control in relation to things or the tenant in relation to premises. Regulation 8 enables the local authority to make requests of individuals or groups to do, or not to do, specified things for health protection purposes and to offer compensation or expenses in relation to a request. Regulations 9 and 10 enable a local authority to restrict contact with, and access to, a dead body. Regulation 11 enables a local authority to take action to relocate a dead body; and obliges a person having charge or control of premises in which the dead body is located to co-operate. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from the Department of Health, Room 514, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk).

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 0.55.

Basis
c06_offence_committed
Confidence
0.55 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