UK Offence Report

Obstruction of construction of authorised works

article 37 of The Leeds Railway Station (Southern Entrance) Order 2013

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

37 Any person who, without reasonable excuse—

a obstructs any person acting under the authority of the promoter in setting out the lines of the scheduled works or in constructing any authorised work; or

b interferes with, moves or removes any apparatus belonging to any person acting under the authority of the promoter, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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

37 Any person who, without reasonable excuse— a obstructs any person acting under the authority of the promoter in setting out the lines of the scheduled works or in constructing any authorised work; or b interferes with, moves or removes any apparatus belonging to any person acting under the authority

What would breach article 37?

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 Leeds Railway Station (Southern Entrance) Order 2013.
  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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
1 August 2013
In force from
22 August 2013
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order authorises West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Metro) and Network Rail Infrastructure Limited together (referred to in this Order as the promoter) to construct and operate an extension of Leeds Railway Station consisting of a new station entrance constructed over the Aire and Calder Navigation to the south of Leeds Railway Station. For these purposes the Order confers powers, compulsorily or by agreement, to acquire land and rights in land to use land. The Order also contains a number of protective provisions for the benefit of the protected undertakers. The Order also makes provision for miscellaneous ancillary matters including the power to execute street works, extinguish rights of navigation in part of the Aire and Calder Navigation, the temporary stopping up of part of the Aire and Calder Navigation, the carrying out of alterations to the highway and the introduction of measures to regulate the traffic on streets in the vicinity of the proposed works. A copy of the works and land plans, the book of reference, and the traffic regulation and rights of way plan mentioned in this Order and certified in accordance with article 48 (certification of plans, etc.) of this Order, may be inspected free of charge during working hours of the offices of Metro at 40 - 50 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 2DE and at the offices of Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Kings Place, 90 York Way London N1 9AG.

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