UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 16(2) of The European Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Wales) Regulations 2009 (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

2 Any person who—

a fails to comply with regulations 9,

10 or 11; or

b intentionally refuses to supply any information, make any return, or produce any document when required to do so by, or otherwise intentionally obstructs, an authorised officer (or

a person accompanying and acting on the instructions of the officer) acting in exercise of

a power conferred by regulation 12, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 16(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 European Fisheries Fund (Grants) (Wales) Regulations 2009.
  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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2009-03-18); 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
23 February 2009
In force from
18 March 2009
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 apply in relation to Wales and supplement Council Regulation 1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (“the Council Regulation”) and Commission Regulation 498/2007 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the Council Regulation (“the Commission Regulation”). In exercise of power introduced by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, references to the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation are to these instruments as amended from time to time. The Council Regulation provides for assistance (“Community aid”) to be paid from the European Fisheries Fund established by the European Community in respect of certain categories of investments, projects and actions (“relevant operations”) in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and in the industry sector processing and marketing its products. These Regulations provide for and regulate the payment of Community aid and grants in addition to that aid by the Welsh Ministers towards expenditure on operations which the Welsh Ministers have approved in accordance with these Regulations, the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation. These Regulations (regulations 3, 4 and 5) lay down a procedure for applications for the approval of relevant operations and expenditure to be made and approved for the purpose of the payment of Community aid and, if the Welsh Ministers so determine, grant in addition to that aid. Such aid and grant together is referred to as “financial assistance”. In determining whether to pay grant in addition to Community aid and, if they determine to pay such grant, the amount of the grant, the Welsh Ministers are required to have regard to the requirements of the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation (regulation 3). Among other things the Council Regulation requires a certain level of financial participation by Member States to enable relevant operations to qualify for Community aid, the requisite levels of participation being set out in Annex II to the Council Regulation. Payment of financial assistance is dependent on the provision of satisfactory evidence of the expenditure incurred and of the proper execution of the relevant operation (regulation 6). Provision is made concerning the method of payment of financial assistance (regulation 7). The Welsh Ministers may require undertakings to be given by a person whose application is approved (regulation 8). Provision is made (regulation 9) for persons whose applications for financial assistance have been approved to supply to the Welsh Ministers such information as the Welsh Ministers may from time to time reasonably require and (under regulation 10) for them to retain certain records for a period of 6 years. That period may be extended by the Welsh Ministers. Applicants are required, on request, to give assistance to authorised officers, who are given power of entry and inspection for specified purposes (regulations 11 and 12). Provision is made for the reduction, withholding and recovery, in certain circumstances, of financial assistance (regulation 13) and for the payment of interest on amounts recovered (regulation 14). Regulation 11 provides that sums payable to the Welsh Ministers are recoverable as a debt. The Regulations create offences and provide penalties in respect of false statements made to obtain financial assistance, failure to keep records or provide information reasonably requested by the Welsh Ministers, failure to comply with requests made by authorised officers in exercise of their powers of entry and inspection and the obstruction of such officers in the exercise of those powers (regulation 16). They also make provision in relation to offences committed by bodies corporate (regulation 17). A regulatory impact assessment has been carried out in connection with these Regulations and is available from the Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.

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 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