UK Offence Report

Recording information on catches of fish

article 11 of The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

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

11 The person in charge of

a Northern Ireland fishing boat, or foreign fishing boat in respect of which the 8% margin of tolerance referred to in Article

13 of Regulation 423/04 is exceeded, is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 11?

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.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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.

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
26 July 2005
In force from
28 July 2005
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 note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order provides for the administration and enforcement in Northern Ireland of the provisions of Annex IVa and IVc (“the Annexes”) to Council Regulation (EC) No. 27/2005 (O.J. No. L12, 14.1.2005, p. 1) fixing for 2005 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required. Further, the Order provides for the enforcement in Northern Ireland of monitoring, inspection and surveillance provisions as set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 423/2004 (O.J. No. L70, 9.3.2004 p. 70) establishing measures for the recovery of cod stocks. Part 2 of the Order relates to Cod and Part 3 to Sole. The Order contains provisions relating to the establishment and aggregation of management periods (Articles 3 and 13 for cod and sole respectively), the number of days which a vessel may be absent from port (Articles 4 and 14), the use of regulated fishing gear (Articles 5 and 15) and the manner in which days may be transferred between fishing vessels within the same management period (Articles 6 and 16). Further, the Order sets out provisions for the transportation of cod and sole (Articles 7 and 17), a provision relating to the mixing of species within containers on board fishing vessels (Articles 8 and 18), procedures for the landing of cod in designated and non-designated ports (Articles 9 and 10), procedures for transhipment or landing sole in third countries (Article 19), a margin of tolerance relating to the recording of catches of fish in logbooks (Articles 11 and 21) and provisions relating to the maintenance of logbooks (Articles 12 and 22). The Order creates offences in respect of the contravention, by the person in charge of the relevant fishing boat (or the individuals otherwise specifically referred to) of provisions of the Annexes. The offences relate to absences from port without notified fishing gear (Articles 3 and 13) or in excess of the days permitted (Articles 4 and 14), failure to use regulated fishing gear in the manner set out in the Annexes (Articles 5 and 15), giving false information when attempting to transfer days from one vessel to another (Articles 6 and 16), transporting species (Articles 7 and 17) or mixing of species (Articles 8 and 18) in a manner inconsistent with the Annexes, the landing of cod in designated and non-designated ports in contravention of notification and documentary requirements (Articles 9 and 10), the transhipment or landing of sole relating to third countries (Article 19) and failing to comply with the 8% tolerance for logbook records relating to catches of fish and failure to handover and dispatch logbooks in the manner prescribed (Articles 11, 12, 21 and 22). Part 4 of the Order makes provisions for enforcement. The Order provides that a person guilty of an offence under it other than an offence under Article 29 is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 and on conviction on indictment to a fine. Further fines up to and including the value of any fish caught in committing the offence are permitted and the court may also order the seizure of fish caught or equipment used in, or in activities leading to, the commission of the offence (Article 23). The Order also provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court (Article 24). For the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Annexes for which provision is made in Parts 2 and 3 of the Order, the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (Articles 25 to 27). Protection of such officers from liability is set out in Article 28, and obstructing them is an offence under Article 29, with a fine of up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. Articles 30 and 31 deal with corporate and equivalent offences and admissibility of documents in evidence. Provision for consequential amendment and revocation is made by Articles 32 and 33. In addition Article 32 includes a provision bringing forward the time for submission of logbook entries for landings in designated ports.

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