UK Offence Report

27 An offence proved to have been aggravated by reason of the foreign power condition being met in relation…

Schedule of The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Suitability for Fixed Term Recall) Order 2025 (revoked)

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

27 An offence proved to have been aggravated by reason of the foreign power condition being met in relation to the conduct that constituted the offence under section

21 of that Act (aggravating factor where foreign power condition met: Scotland). 28

1 An attempt to commit an offence specified in

a preceding paragraph of this Schedule (“a listed offence”).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (wilfully) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no fault word in the offence-creating words, but the surrounding provision uses wilfully - which element it governs was not determined.

What would breach Schedule?

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 Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Suitability for Fixed Term Recall) Order 2025.
  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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 21 of that Act.

penalty is that of the referenced enactment; not stated in this instrument.

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
8 July 2025
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order primarily amends section 255A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) (“the 2003 Act”). It also amends section 255B, and inserts Schedule 19AA into the 2003 Act. Sections 255A to 255D of the 2003 Act provide for the release of prisoners after recall. Under section 255B recalled prisoners are automatically re-released after 28 days imprisonment (14 days if the sentence is less than 12 months). Recalled prisoners not suitable for automatic release are released under section 255C and are liable to imprisonment until the end of their sentence unless re-released earlier by the Secretary of State or the Parole Board. Section 255A identifies which process will apply to a prisoner and section 255A(4) and (4A) sets out the test for suitability for automatic release. Articles 3(2) to 3(5) of this Order amend the test to be applied by the Secretary of State in determining whether a person is suitable for automatic release following recall. The previous test provided that those aged 18 or over and serving a sentence of less than 12 months must be automatically released, unless they are being managed under multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) level 2 or 3 or have been charged with a serious offence at point of recall, defined as murder or any offence listed in Schedule 18 to the Sentencing Act 2020. Article 3(3) replaces the criteria in section 255A(4)(a) with a reference to meeting the conditions in new section 255A(4ZA). Article 3(4) inserts section 255A(4ZA), which provides that a person will be suitable for automatic release where they are 18 or over, serving a sentence of less than four years, not serving a sentence for an offence listed in new Schedule 19AA, not a relevant terrorist offender under section 325 of the 2003 Act, not serving a sentence for an offence in section 247A(2) of the 2003 Act, not recalled in connection with a further offence, and not managed at MAPPA level 2 or 3. Article 3(5) is a consequential amendment to the insertion of section 255A(4ZA). Article 3(6) of this Order amends section 255B(10), which applies after an offender has been informed they will be released at the end of the automatic release period. The section is amended to provide that, where the offender has been charged with a further offence, or where the Secretary of State determines that the offender would be a relevant terrorist offender within section 325(2) (relevant terrorist offenders, etc) or be managed at MAPPA level 2 or 3 if released at the end of the automatic release period, the Secretary of State may direct that the person will not be released on that date, and instead will be released under section 255C. Article 3(7) of this Order inserts Schedule 19AA into the 2003 Act, which contains the list of offences which are not suitable for automatic release. A full Impact Assessment has been prepared for this instrument and will be published on the legislation.gov.uk website.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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