UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Credit Rating Agencies Regulations 2010

regulation 4(e) of The Credit Rating Agencies (Amendment) Regulations 2011

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

Offences: Article 23d inspections

34 Any person who intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by

a warrant under regulation 33(5) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale, or both. .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (believing that, 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 4(e)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by a warrant under regulation 33(5).
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Credit Rating Agencies (Amendment) Regulations 2011.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. 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)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2011-07-01); 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
7 June 2011
In force from
1 July 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 Regulation (EU) No. 513/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 145, 31.5.2011, p. 30) amending Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 on credit rating agencies. Regulation No. 513/2001 transfers responsibility for regulating credit rating agencies under Regulation 1060/2009 (OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 1) from national authorities to the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”). Regulation 2 amends the European Communities (Enforcement of Community Judgments) Order 1972 (S.I. 1972/1590) to enable sanctions and periodic penalties imposed by ESMA to be enforced in the UK. Regulation 4(d) revokes Parts 3 to 8 to the Credit Rating Agencies Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/906), to reflect the fact that ESMA will assume responsibility for regulating credit rating agencies. Regulation 4(e) inserts a new Part 10 into the Credit Rating Agencies Regulations 2010. New regulations 32 and 33 require ESMA to obtain authorisation from the High Court (in Scotland, the Court of Session) before requesting records of telephone or data traffic, or carrying out an on-site inspection. Regulation 33 also enables ESMA to obtain a warrant if a person does not comply with such an inspection. An Explanatory Memorandum is available alongside these Regulations on the National Archive website www.legislation.gov.uk.

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