Offence of obstruction

article 22(a) of The Sustainable Drainage (Enforcement) (Wales) Order 2018

Status not determined
Strict liability
Summary only
Energy, communications, water and utilities

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

a is guilty of an offence, and

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: breaching the provision
Fault element: Strict liability
Burden of proof: No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach article 22(a)?

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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sustainable Drainage (Enforcement) (Wales) Order 2018.

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.

Environmental offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2014
Covers unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste, illegal discharges to air, land and water, and the equivalent offences committed by organisations. It is the guideline that introduced turnover bands for corporate fines, so the size of the defendant company is a starting point rather than a mitigating detail.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 13 November 2018
In force from: 7 January 2019
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 Order provides for the enforcement of breach of the approval required (“the requirement for approval”) under paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (c. 29) (“the Act”) in relation to drainage systems for construction work. Article 3 provides that an approving body may agree with the local planning authority that that authority may exercise enforcement functions under this Order on behalf of the approving body. Article 4 provides for powers of entry onto property of a person authorised by an approving body for the purpose of ascertaining whether there has been a breach of requirement for approval or whether a temporary stop notice, enforcement notice or stop notice has been complied with, including circumstances in which an application may be made to a court for a warrant. Article 5 provides for the circumstances in which a developer or other person may recover compensation in relation to loss incurred as a result of the exercise of powers of entry pursuant to article 4. Article 6 confers power on an approving body to give a temporary stop notice to a developer, where the body has reason to believe that a developer has breached the requirement for approval. The duration of such a notice is limited in accordance with that article. Article 7 provides for the circumstances in which a developer may recover compensation in relation to loss incurred as a result of being given a temporary stop notice. Article 8 confers power on an approving body, where a developer has breached the requirement for approval, to give a notice to the developer (an “enforcement notice”), specifying the steps to be taken by the developer to remedy the breach. Article 9 specifies the steps to be taken by a developer, that must be included in an enforcement notice in specified circumstances, and provides for the steps the approving body may take in the event of non-compliance with the notice. Article 10 confers power on an approving body to give a developer a stop notice, in circumstances where the developer has appealed against an enforcement notice and the approving body thinks it expedient that the construction work to which the enforcement notice relates, should stop immediately. Article 10 also provides for the circumstances in which such a notice ceases to have effect. Article 11 requires the approving body to maintain a register of all stop notices, temporary stop notices and enforcement notices that it gives, and prescribes the information to be entered in the register. Article 12 provides for a developer to appeal to the Welsh Ministers against an enforcement notice on grounds specified in the article. Article 13 prescribes the period within which an appeal must be made. Article 14 prescribes the content of a notice of appeal, and the actions that must be taken to make an appeal. Articles 15 and 16 provide respectively, for the use of electronic communications and withdrawal of consent to the use of electronic communications in relation to appeals. Article 17 makes provision for section 319B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (c. 8) (“the 1990 Act”) and the Town and Country Planning (Referred Applications and Appeals Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/544 (W. 121)) to apply, with appropriate modifications, to an appeal against an enforcement notice under this Order, as if it was an appeal against a planning enforcement notice. Article 18 provides that the Welsh Ministers are to determine an appeal under this Order. Article 19 provides for the powers of the Welsh Ministers in determining an appeal against an enforcement notice. Article 20 provides for procedure in relation to evidence in a hearing or inquiry, by applying, subject to appropriate modifications, subsections (2) and (3) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) (local inquiries: evidence and costs), and in relation to costs, by applying section 322C of the 1990 Act (costs: Wales). Article 21 provides for an offence of failure to comply with a temporary stop notice, enforcement notice or stop notice. Article 22 provides for an offence of wilful obstruction of a person authorised by an approving body who is exercising powers of entry under Article 4. Article 23 makes provision for liability of officers and members where an offence under this Order is committed by a body corporate. Article 24 makes provision for liability of partnerships and partners, where an offence under this Order is committed by a partnership, and for the liability of unincorporated associations and their officers, where such an offence is committed by an unincorporated association. A regulatory impact assessment in relation to Wales has been prepared on the likely costs and benefits of complying with this Order. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ and is published on www.gov.wales.

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Sustainable Drainage (Enforcement) (Wales) Order 2018 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Energy, communications, water and utilitiesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2018