UK Offence Report

Part II offences

regulation 14(1) of Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Decisions, Documents and Meetings) (Wales) Regulations 2001

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

1 A person who has custody of a document which is required by regulation 5, 8 or 9 to be available for inspection by the public, commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse that person— a intentionally obstructs the exercise by any person of a right conferred by these Regulations to inspect, or to make a copy of, the whole or part of a document; or b refuses to supply a copy of the whole or part of the document in accordance with regulation 13(2).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

ilable for inspection by the public, commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse that person— a intentionally obstructs the exercise by any person of a right conferred by these Regulations to inspect, or to make a copy of, the whole or part of a document; or b refuses to supply a copy of the whole or part of the document in accordance wit

What would breach regulation 14(1)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person has custody of a document which is required by regulation 5, 8 or 9 to be available for inspection by the public.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Decisions, Documents and Meetings) (Wales) Regulations 2001.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. 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
£200
Standard scale
Level 1
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
21 June 2001
In force from
28 July 2001
Extent
W

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.

(This note does not form part of the Regulations) These Regulations apply to county councils and county borough councils in Wales which are operating executive arrangements under Part II of the Local Government Act 2000. They make provision relating to public access to meetings, decisions and documents of local authority executives and their committees. In addition, they also deal with access to information relating to decisions made by joint committees of local authorities where these are solely comprised of executive members and are discharging an executive function. Under executive arrangements individual members will be able to make executive decisions and so the Regulations also make provision in respect of access to documents where executive decisions are made by individual members. The general principle of the Regulations is for the public to have access to meetings, documents and decisions where a local authority executive, a committee or an individual is to take an “executive decision”. The term “executive decision” is defined in regulation 2. Part I of the Regulations contains introductory material and definitions of terms used in the Regulations. Part II contains general matters which relate to all executive decisions. In particular regulations 3 and 4 provide (subject to certain specified exemptions) that meetings of local authority executives must be held in public. The rules regarding access to agenda and reports for meetings of executives are set out in regulation 5. Regulations 6 and 7 specify that, where an executive decision is recorded, a note must be made of the reasons for the decision, when the decision was made, details of any conflict of interest and any consultation undertaken. The provisions concerning recording apply to executive decisions made collectively, or by individual members. In regulation 8 there are provisions related to inspection of documentation following executive decisions. There are requirements with regard to inspection of background papers at regulation 9. In Part III members of local authorities and of overview and scrutiny committees are given additional rights in relation to access to information. Additional rights for members in general are contained in regulation 10. The common law position of “the need to know” is preserved. Regulation 11 sets out additional rights for members of overview and scrutiny committees in relation to decisions that they are scrutinising. In certain circumstances these members can have access to relevant exempt or confidential information. Nothing in these regulations permits the disclosure of such information by members of overview and scrutiny committees. Part IV contains further general provisions relating to information. Regulation 12 stipulates certain additional information which a local authority must make available concerning its executive arrangements. In regulation 13 there are provisions which specify to how inspection of documentation is to be afforded to the public by a local authority. Regulation 14 creates offences

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