UK Offence Report

Entry to and use of the controlled land area

section 5(2) of The British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre Byelaws 2016

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

2 A person commits an offence if that person—

a enters the controlled land area or remains in it,

b causes anything to enter or remain in that area so as to obstruct the use of that area, or

c flies or causes anything to fly over that area at

a height of less than 500 feet, when it is being used for

a military purpose.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach section 5(2)?

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 British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre Byelaws 2016.
  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
12 June 2016
In force from
29 June 2016
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 Byelaws) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Byelaws regulate areas of land, foreshore and sea known as the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (“BUTEC”). This comprises the BUTEC Base Area at the Kyle of Lockalsh and the BUTEC Sea Ranges, between the isle of Raasay and Applecross on the mainland. They are shown on the Byelaws Location Maps 1 and 2 set out in Schedule 1. The location of numbered points shown on Maps 1 and 2 on the boundary of the BUTEC Base Area and BUTEC Sea Ranges are set out in the tables in Schedule 2. Table 3 in Schedule 2 gives the location of numbered points shown on Map 1 on the boundary of the inner sea area. Different byelaws apply to different parts of these 2 areas. Byelaw 3 regulates entry to the protected land areas, protected sea areas and the inner sea area. These areas are closed to unauthorised persons. It is an offence to enter such an area or cause anything to enter that obstructs the use of an area. It is also an offence to fly or cause anything to fly over such an area at a height of less than 500ft. Byelaw 4(1) regulates activities in the outer sea areas, which remain open under the byelaws. Certain activities are not permitted, for example fishing other than by line, creel or diving. When part of those areas is uncovered by the tide byelaw 4(3) provides that the rules set out in byelaw 5(4) apply to that part. A breach of byelaw 4(1) is an offence. Byelaw 5 regulates entry to and use of the controlled land area at Applecross on the mainland. Under byelaw 5(1) public access is permitted unless the area is being used for a military purpose. Under byelaw 5(2), if the area is being so used, entry is not permitted. When entry is permitted, under byelaw 5(4) there are a number of activities that are not allowed, for example, obstructing personnel who are using the site for an authorised military purpose. A breach of byelaw 5(2) or 5(4) is an offence. Under byelaw 6 certain people are exempted from parts of these Byelaws. In particular— a a person who has received written permission from the appointed person so long as they act in accordance with that permission: any person seeking written permission under byelaw 6(2)(a) should apply in writing to the TEST PT Resident Project Officer, MOD, BUTEC, Kyle of Lochalsh, IV40 8AJ. b a person who has received oral permission from the watch-keeper for the inner sea area to navigate through is exempt from the offence under byelaw 3 so long as they act in accordance with that permission: any person seeking oral permission to navigate through the inner sea area under byelaw 6(4) should contact Range Control on VHF channel 16. Under byelaw 7 a direction to leave an area may be given by a constable and certain other persons in order to prevent an offence being committed under byelaw 3(1)(a), 3(1)(b), 3(1)(d), 4(1), 5(2) or 5(4). That direction may include a requirement that the person does not return to the area before a specified period (of not more than 28 days) has expired. It is an offence under byelaw 7(7) to fail to comply with a direction to leave. In certain circumstances a constable or enforcement officer may under byelaw 8 remove a person from an area. If any person finds any military equipment or materials in the outer sea areas they are requested to make a report of the location at which the items were returned to the water to Range Control on VHF channel 16.

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 “commits 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