{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-waterways-act-1995/section-12",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-waterways-act-1995/section-12.json",
  "legislation": "ukla/1995/1",
  "legislation_title": "British Waterways Act 1995",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-waterways-act-1995",
  "path": "section/12",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "12",
  "heading": "Offences under Part II",
  "text": "(1) If a person—\n(a) intentionally obstructs another person in the exercise of any power of entry conferred on the other person by this Part; or\n(b) while another person is on any land in pursuance of this Part intentionally obstructs him in carrying out any emergency operations or any relevant operations specified in a notice of entry (and not superseded by any conditions accepted or modifications made under subsection (7) (a) (ii) of section 5 (Notice of entry, etc.) of this Act, or by the order of any court or the sheriff or the award of an arbitrator or arbiter), as the case may be; or\n(c) without reasonable excuse removes or otherwise interferes with apparatus left on or in land in pursuance of subsection (1) of section 8 (Further provisions as to entry) of this Act;\nhe shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine—\n(i) in the case of an offence of obstructing another person in the exercise of a power conferred by section 4 (Entry on to land in cases of emergency) of this Act, not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale; and\n(ii) in the case of any other offence, not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.\n(2) It shall be a defence in any prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) (a) or (b) above that the person obstructed could not reasonably be identified as a person entitled to exercise powers under this Part.\n(3) If a person who has entered on any land in pursuance of this Part discloses to another person information obtained by him there about a manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/1995/1/section/12",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T14:46:04.330465+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}