UK Offence Report

4 Any person who, in relation to a fishing boat to which this Order applies– a delays or otherwise…

article 5(4) of The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Satellite Monitoring Measures) (Scotland) Order 2000

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

4 Any person who, in relation to

a fishing boat to which this Order applies–

a delays or otherwise interferes with the transmission of required information by

a satellite tracking device;

b interferes with the ability of the satellite tracking device to be polled; or

c knowingly transmits or furnishes false required information, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly.

What would breach article 5(4)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Satellite Monitoring Measures) (Scotland) Order 2000.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

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

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Satellite Monitoring Measures) (Scotland) Order 2004
Revoked on
6 October 2004
Made
31 January 2000
In force from
21 February 2000
Extent
S

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order, which applies to Scotland only, provides for the enforcement of Articles 3 and 28c of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1489/97 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 as regards satellite based vessel monitoring systems. Those Regulations provide for the transmission via satellite of vessel identification and location reports by fishing vessels measuring more than 20 metres between perpendiculars or more than 24 metres in overall length. Articles 3 and 4 impose these obligations upon all relevant fishing vessels. The Order creates offences in respect of breaches of the provisions (article 5), including breaches of Articles 6.1 and 6.2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1489/97. Articles 6.1 and 6.2 require the “required information” (as defined in article 2(1) of the Order) to be sent to the flag Member State and the appropriate coastal Member State by alternative means, at least every 24 hours, in the event of a technical failure or non function of either a satellite tracking device installed on a fishing boat or the vessel monitoring system of the flag Member State. Also, in the event of a technical failure or non function of a satellite tracking device the owner is required to have it repaired or replaced within one month or, where such event occurs during a fishing trip that lasts for more than one month, as soon as the fishing boat enters a port. The master of the fishing boat is not authorised to commence a new fishing trip until the satellite tracking device has been repaired or so replaced. Penalties for contravention of the provisions referred to in article 5 of this Order are set out in article 6 of the Order. For the purpose of enforcing the Regulations, British sea fishery officers are given powers to board fishing boats, to search, examine and test the equipment of the boat, to require the production of documents and to take the boat to the nearest convenient port (article 8). Provision is also made for the prosecution of offences of changing the identification of a satellite tracking device installed on a fishing boat or removing the device from the boat without prior authorisation (article 5(2)), interfering with transmissions from the device or knowingly furnishing false information (article 5(3)), and obstruction of British sea fishery officers (article 10). Penalties following conviction are set out in articles 6(2) and 10. The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Order is currently £5,000. The Order provides powers for the recovery of fines imposed by the sheriff (article 7 of the Order) and for the evidential status of certain documents (article 12). The Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the application of the satellite-based vessel monitoring system to Scottish fishing boats has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, Room 521, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TW.

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