Supervision, enforcement, publicity etc.
27 Obstruction and personation of authorised officers.
1
Any person who—
a
wilfully obstructs an authorised officer, or
F4b
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
c
without reasonable cause fails to give an authorised officer F5 any assistance or information he may reasonably require in performing his functions under this Act, or
d
in giving information to an authorised officer, makes any statement which he knows to be false,
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F1level 4 on the standard scale.
F31A
A failure to give assistance or information shall not constitute an offence under subsection (1)(c) if it is also a failure in relation to which an authorised officer may apply for an order under section 11A above.
2
A person who is not an authorised officer but purports to act as such shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F1level 5 on the standard scale.
3
In this section “authorised officer” means a duly authorised officer of an enforcement authority who is acting in pursuance of this Act.
4
Nothing in subsection (1) above requires a person to answer any question or give any information if to do so might incriminate that person or that person’s F2spouse or civil partner .