# Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, Section 90: Assaulting or impeding police

Extent: S

(1) It is an offence for a person to assault—
(a) a person (“A”) acting in a capacity mentioned in subsection (3), or
(b) a person assisting A while A is acting in such capacity.
(2) It is an offence for a person to resist, obstruct or hinder—
(a) a person (“A”) acting in a capacity mentioned in subsection (3), or
(b) a person assisting A while A is acting in such capacity.
(3) The capacities are—
(a) that of a constable,
(b) that of a member of police staff,
(c) that of a member of a relevant police force when such member is executing a warrant or is otherwise acting in Scotland by virtue of any enactment conferring powers on the member in Scotland,
(d) that of a person who—
(i) is a member of an international joint investigation team that is led by a person acting in a capacity mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c), and
(ii) is carrying out functions as a member of that team.
(4) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.
(5) A complaint may include a charge that is framed so as to comprise (in a combined form) the specification of both an offence under subsection (1) and an offence under subsection (2).
(6) Where a charge in a complaint is so framed the charge is to be regarded as being a single yet cumulative charge.
(7) In this section and section 91, a reference to a member of a relevant police force is a reference to a member of—
(a) a police force maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996 (c.16),
(b) the metropolitan police force,
(c) the City of London police force, or
(d) the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2012/8/section/90 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/police-and-fire-reform-scotland-act-2012/section-90
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.