UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 9(1) of The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) (Wales) Regulations 2004

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 Any person who—

a intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or person accompanying the authorised person and acting under his or her instructions) in the exercise of

a power conferred by regulation 7; or

b without reasonable cause fails to comply with

a request made under regulation 8, is guilty of an 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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).

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: intentionally.

What would breach regulation 9(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 Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) (Wales) Regulations 2004.
  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
8 December 2004
In force from
1 January 2005
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 make provision in Wales for the administration and enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 (OJ No. L 270, 21.10.2003, p.1) (“the Council Regulation”) and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004 (OJ No. L 141, 30.4.2004, p18) (“the Commission Regulation”), in relation to the “cross compliance” aspects of the new system of direct support schemes (including the Single Payment Scheme) under the Common Agricultural Policy (“CAP”) which comes into force on 1 January 2005. “Cross compliance” is the term which reflects the requirements of Articles 3 to 7 of the Council Regulation which make receipt of direct payments under the CAP conditional upon compliance with a range of laws and standards. The laws are set out in Annex III to the Council Regulation, which contains a list of “statutory management requirements” in areas of Community law on the environment, public and animal health and animal welfare. Additionally under Article 5(1) of the Council Regulation, Member States must set out standards of “good agricultural and environmental condition” which will apply to all farmers, within the framework of Annex IV to that Regulation. Within the context of the above, these Regulations provide as follows: Regulation 3 designates the National Assembly for Wales (“the National Assembly”) as the competent national authority responsible for providing farmers with a list of the statutory management requirements and standards of good agricultural and environmental condition on his or her land. Regulation 4, by reference to the Schedule, sets out the standards of good agricultural and environmental condition which will apply in Wales. The standards in the Schedule cover the following areas— Retention of guidance on soils (paragraph 1) Post-harvest management of land after combinable crops (paragraph 2) Waterlogged soil (paragraph 3) Burning of crop residues (paragraphs 4 and 5) Overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding methods (paragraph 6) Management of land which is not in agricultural production (paragraph 7) Control of weeds (paragraphs 8 and 9) Boundary Features (paragraph 10) Hedgerows (paragraphs 11 to 13) Environmental impact assessment (paragraphs 14 and 15) Heather and grass burning (paragraph 16) Sites of special scientific interest (paragraphs 17 to 21) Tree preservation orders (paragraph 22 Felling of trees (paragraph 23) Scheduled monuments (paragraph 24) Regulation 5 gives the National Assembly the power to prohibit farmers from converting land under permanent pasture and to also require farmers to reconvert land to permanent pasture, where the exercise of such a power is necessary in order for the United Kingdom to meet the requirements of Article 5(2) of the Council Regulation and Articles 3 and 4 of the Commission Regulation. Regulation 6 gives effect to a derogation granted under Article 42 of the Commission Regulation which permits the National Assembly to be designated as the Competent Control Authority (“CCA”). The CCA bears responsibility for carrying out the controls and checks on the requirements or standards referred to above. However Regulation 6 enables the National Assembly to require the Environment Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales (“a relevant authority”), to carry out cross compliance controls and checks and subsequently submit to it a provisional report of their findings. A relevant authority is also under a general duty to notify the National Assembly of any non-compliance established as a consequence of any kind of check. Regulation 7 provides powers of entry for an authorised person. These powers are in addition to any existing power of entry and are for the purpose of providing a control report or establishing whether there has been a non-compliance or ascertaining whether an offence under these Regulations has been or is being committed. Regulations 8 provides for an authorised person to request assistance. Regulation 9 establishes offences for obstructing and failing to provide assistance to an authorised person. A regulatory appraisal has been prepared in respect of these Regulations and is available from the Department for Environment, Planning and Countryside, National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ.

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