UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 17(1) of The Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grant (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 is guilty of an offence if—

a for the purposes of obtaining financial support under these Regulations for himself or herself or for any other person, he or she knowingly or recklessly makes

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular; or

b he or she intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or

a person accompanying an authorised person and acting under their instructions) in the exercise of his or her powers under regulation 11.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 17(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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grant (Wales) Regulations 2001.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2001-07-04); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
3 July 2001
In force from
4 July 2001
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, which apply to Wales, supplement the Community legislation listed in the Schedule to the Regulations (“the Community legislation”). The Community legislation provides, amongst other things, for support to be paid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (“Community support”) towards investment for the improvement of the processing and marketing of agricultural products. The Regulations operate within the scope of these provisions to enable grant to be paid towards expenditure incurred in connection with operations involving such improvements. The Regulations make provision as part of the Rural Development Plan for Wales (“the RDPW”) and the Single Programming Document for Community structural assistance under Objective 1 for West Wales and the Valleys (“the SPD”), for the payment of grants by the National Assembly for Wales (“the National Assembly”) in respect of any expenditure it has approved (regulations 3 and 4). The Regulations provide for two types of grant to be paid; a Processing and Marketing Grant (in respect of operations costing £40,000 and over), and a Processing and Marketing Small Grant (in respect of operations costing in excess of £1,500 but less than £40,000). The maximum amount of grant available is to be 30 per cent of approved expenditure or 40 per cent of such expenditure where the operation is located within the Objective 1 area (regulation 5). Such expenditure may be approved if it is eligible for support under the Community legislation and is expenditure which falls within those parts of the RDPW or the SPD which concern the improvement of the processing and marketing of agricultural products (regulation 6). In particular, the Regulations implement and supplement Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1750/1999 (OJ No. L160, 26.6.99, p.80) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/ 1999 (OJ No. L160, 26.6.99, p.80)(“the Commission Regulation”). The Regulations provide for the making of claims for, and the payment of, grants following approval (regulations 7 and 8) and the provision of information, and the keeping of records, by recipients of financial support (regulations 9 and 10). Regulation 11 confers powers of entry and inspection on certain authorised persons (including officials of the European Commission). The Regulations implement Article 48(2) of the Commission Regulation (which requires Member states to determine a system of penalties to be imposed in the event of a breach of obligation) by granting the National Assembly powers to withhold or recover payments and take certain other action, including termination of the commitment (and of entitlement to payments in respect of it), in the event of a breach of an obligation arising under the regulations by a recipient of financial support (regulations 12, 13 and 14). Regulation 15 provides power to charge interest on sums recovered and regulation 16 provides that sums payable to the National Assembly are recoverable as debts. The Regulations also create offences in respect of the furnishing of false information for the purpose of obtaining aid and in respect of obstructing authorised persons in the exercise of their powers (regulation 17). The Regulations revoke, subject to a transitional saving, the Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grant Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/362). Copies of the Commission Decisions referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Schedule, the RDPW and the SPD, are available for inspection during normal office hours at the offices of the National Assembly for Wales, Agriculture Department, Cathays Park, Cardiff.

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 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