UK Offence Report

Insertion of regulations 16 to 20

regulation 4 of The Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Inspections etc.) Regulations 2012

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 20 1 It is an offence for a person— a wilfully to obstruct an inspector in the exercise of the powers or duties conferred on the inspector by these Regulations; b without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with a requirement imposed under Schedule 3 or to prevent another person from complying with such a requirement; or c i to make a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular; or ii recklessly to make a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, where such a statement is made in purported compliance with any requirement imposed under Schedule 3 for the supply of information to an inspector.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (believes that, recklessly, wilfully).

“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: wilfully, recklessly; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

r duties conferred on the inspector by these Regulations; b without reasonable excuse to fail to comply with a requirement imposed under Schedule 3 or to prevent another person from complying with such a requirement; or c i to make a statement which that person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular; or ii recklessly to make

What would breach regulation 4?

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 Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Inspections etc.) Regulations 2012.
  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
Unlimited
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
22 February 2012
In force from
Not determined
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 form part of the implementation by the United Kingdom of Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (OJ No L 140, 5.6.2009, p.114.) (“the Directive”). In particular, they implement Article 15 of the Directive on the inspection of carbon dioxide storage complexes. The Directive is chiefly implemented by Part 1, Chapter 3 of the Energy Act 2008 (c.32) and by the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc.) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2221) (the “2010 Regulations”), which are amended by these Regulations. Regulation 3(a) inserts new definitions in the 2010 Regulations. Regulation 3(b) amends the definition of “licensing authority” in the licensing regulations is amended so that those regulations apply whenever the Secretary of State is the licensing authority under section 18(2) of the Energy Act 2008, including in respect of activities that take place partly in the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland and partly outside that sea. Regulation 4 inserts into the 2010 Regulations new regulations 16 to 20, which provide for the routine inspection of carbon dioxide storage complexes and for additional inspections. Reports of the results of those inspections must be produced, provided to the operator and added to the public register provided for under section 29 of the Energy Act 2008. The Secretary of State may appoint inspectors, whose powers are set out in a new Schedule 3 to the 2010 Regulations. Provision is made for the way in which evidence obtained by the inspectors through the use of those powers may be used. Offences are created concerning the obstruction of inspectors, failure to comply with requirements imposed under the 2010 Regulations and the provision of false information in connection with an investigation. Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations, which sets out the provisions that are to be included in a storage permit, is amended by regulation5 such that the financial security maintained by the operator must be sufficient to pay the financial contribution required under the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Termination of Licences) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1483). Regulation 7 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of regulations 2 to 6 and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector has been prepared and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk. A Transposition Note setting out how these Regulations implement the relevant provisions of the Directive is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum that is available alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk. Copies of the Impact Assessment and Transposition Note are also available from Ricki Kiff, Department of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2AW.

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 0.90.

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