UK Offence Report

3 It is an offence— a intentionally to obstruct an authorised officer acting in the execution of these…

regulation 14(3) of The Wine 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

3 It is an offence—

a intentionally to obstruct an authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations or of the European Regulations (including obstruction by the alteration or removal of

a mark made under regulation 12(4));

b without reasonable cause, to fail to give to any such officer any assistance or information which that officer may reasonably require;

c to furnish to any such officer any information knowing it to be false or misleading; or

d to fail to produce

a document, record or passport to any such officer when required to do so.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an authorised officer
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, knowing it to be).

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, knowing it to be.

What would breach regulation 14(3)?

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 Wine Regulations 2011.
  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
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
6 December 2011
In force from
30 December 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 enforce in the United Kingdom— Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91 laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of aromatized wines, aromatized wine-based drinks and aromatized wine-product cocktails (OJ No L 149, 14.6.1991, p.1); the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) relating to wine (OJ No L 299, 16.11.20007, p.1); Commission Regulation (EC) No 555/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine as regards support programmes, trade with third countries, production potential and on controls in the wine sector (OJ No L 170, 30.6.2008, p.1); Commission Regulation (EC) No436/2009 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No479/2008 as regards the vineyard register, compulsory declarations and the gathering of information to monitor the wine market, the documents accompanying consignments of wine products and the wine sector registers to be kept (OJ No L 128, 27.5.2009, p.15); Commission Regulation (EC) No606/2009 laying down certain detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No479/2008 as regards the categories of grapevine products, oenological practices and the applicable restrictions (OJ No L 193, 24.7.2009, p.1); Commission Regulation (EC) No607/2009 of 14July 2009 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No479/2008 as regards protected designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products (OJ No L 193, 24.7.2009, p.60). These are defined as “the European Regulations” in regulation 2. Regulation 3 sets out the enforcement authority for the purposes of the European Regulations and regulation 4 sets out the competent authority. Regulation 5 requires those who plant more than 0.1ha of vines and are not already registered to register with the Food Standards Agency. Regulation 6 and Schedules 1 and 2 set out the requirements for protected geographical indications and protected designations of origin. Regulations 8 to 17 set out enforcement related provision. In particular, regulation 14 creates offences in relation to breach of the European Regulations and regulation 15 sets out the penalties on conviction. Regulation 18 requires the Secretary of State to review these Regulations and publish a report at a maximum interval of every five years. Regulation 19 makes amendments consequential on repeals made by the European Regulations. An impact assessment for this instrument has not been produced as no impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

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 0.90.

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