UK Offence Report

The Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 1999

UK Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2567 — creates 3 criminal offences.

3offences created
0recorded in force
3revoked
Made
13 September 1999
In force from
12 October 1999
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Courts, police, prisons and the administration of justice
Made under
Merchant Shipping Act 1995

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations replace the Merchant Shipping (Accident Investigation) Regulations 1994. The main changes are: A new, broader, definition of “accident” which includes some of those events previously known as “dangerous occurrences”, has been introduced. (Regulation 2(1)) The definitions of “dangerous occurrence”, “strands” and “ serious casualty” have been removed. “Serious injury” has been redefined and no longer applies only to people employed or carried in a United Kingdom ship. (Regulation 2(2)) Various regulations have been updated with reference to modern methods of communication, and accordingly statutory accident reporting times have been reduced. A regulation regarding the disclosure of records has been included. Declarations and other records used in accident investigation will only be disclosed if a court so orders, or if a declarant gives written permission. (Regulation 9) The concept of an “Inspector’s Inquiry” and the reference to summary reports have been removed. Instead all reports of investigations will be made publicly available in such a manner as the Chief Inspector sees fit, subject to certain safeguards with respect to national security. (Regulation 10) The consultation with those whose reputation is likely to be affected by a report of an investigation, before it is made publicly available, has been reduced to one period of 28 days. (Regulation 10(5)) The Chief Inspector’s discretion whether or not to comply in serving a notice on a person likely to be adversely affected by a report, when a coroner’s inquest or fatal accident inquiry has been held, has been removed from the Regulations. It will be an offence for any person to falsely claim to have additional information or new evidence pertaining to an accident. (Regulation 14(1)(c))

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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