UK Offence Report

Obstruction

regulation 18 of The Poultrymeat (England) 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

18 A person is guilty of an offence if that person—

a intentionally obstructs an authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations;

b fails without reasonable excuse to give to an authorised officer any assistance or information the officer may reasonably require for the performance of functions under these Regulations;

c fails without reasonable excuse to comply with

a direction given under regulation 12(2), (8) or (9);

d fails without reasonable excuse to comply with

a regulation 12(7) notice;

e intentionally furnishes any false or misleading information to an authorised officer; or

f fails without reasonable excuse to produce

a document or record when required to do so by an authorised officer.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

ficer acting in the execution of these Regulations; b fails without reasonable excuse to give to an authorised officer any assistance or information the officer may reasonably require for the performance of functions under these Regulations; c fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given under regulation 12(2), (8) or (9);

What would breach regulation 18?

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 Poultrymeat (England) 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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
16 February 2011
In force from
21 March 2011
Extent
E

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 which apply in England only make provision for the enforcement and execution of directly applicable European marketing standards relating to poultrymeat. These Regulations revoke, in relation to England, the Poultry Meat (Water Content) Regulations 1984 (S.I. 1984/1145). They make the failure to comply with the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008 (OJ No L 157, 17.6.2008, p 46) mentioned in Schedule 2 (provisions relating to the marketing of poultrymeat) an offence (regulation 3 and Schedule 2). They make provision in relation to the registration of slaughterhouses and producers as required by Article 12 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008 (regulation 5) and provide for appeals against a decision to refuse such a registration and a decision to cancel such a registration (regulations 6 and 7). They provide for the payment of fees in relation to water content checks carried out by the Food Standards Agency (regulation 8 and Schedule 3). They provide for enforcement (regulations 9 and 10). They confer powers of entry (regulation 11) and other powers (regulation 12), including seizure and destruction powers. They make the failure to comply with 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) (OJ No L 299, 16.11.2007, p 1) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008 mentioned in Schedule 1 a matter for which a compliance notice may be issued (regulation 14) and provide for appeals against compliance notices (regulations 15 and 16). Failure to comply with a compliance notice is an offence. They make obstruction of an authorised officer an offence (regulation 18). Offences under the Regulations are punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 19). A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available at www.defra.gov.uk or from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR. It is also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum for these Regulations, which is available, alongside these Regulations, on the OPSI website (www.opsi.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