UK Offence Report

Incorporation of the 1847 Act

article 3(2) of The Port Babcock Rosyth Harbour Empowerment Order 2009

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

2 For the purposes of the 1847 Act, as so incorporated– a the expression “the special Act” means this Order; b the expression “the undertakers” means the Company; c the expression “the harbour, dock or pier” means the port; d the meaning of the word “vessel” as defined in article 2(1) of this Order shall be substituted for the meaning assigned to that word by section 3 of the 1847 Act; e section 53 shall have effect subject to the modifications that, for the word “made” and for the expression “after notice of such direction by the harbour master served upon him”, there shall be substituted respectively the word “given” and the expression “after being given any such direction by the harbour master”; f section 56 shall be read as if the word “wreck” shall not include a vessel which is sunk, stranded or abandoned; g section 63 shall be read and have effect as if for the words from “be liable to” to the end of the section there were substituted the words “be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale”; h section 69 shall be read and have effect as if for the words from “forfeit” to the end of the section there were substituted the words “be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale”; i sections 69 and 70 shall be read and have effect as if the words “or on the deck of any vessel” were delete; j section 71 shall be read and have effect as if the phrase “in any vessel” were delete whenever it appears in that section; k section 71 shall be read and have effect as if the words “every person who shall bring any loaded gun” to the end of that section were deleted; and l section 73 shall be read and have effect as if for “level 1” there were substituted “level 2”.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 3(2)?

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. On these words it is an offence to include a vessel which is sunk, stranded or abandoned.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Port Babcock Rosyth Harbour Empowerment Order 2009.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
28 January 2009
In force from
29 January 2009
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 confers powers on Port Babcock Rosyth Limited to maintain and operate their port undertaking and port premises at the Port of Babcock Rosyth in Fife as a statutory harbour undertaking and defines the limits of jurisdiction of the port.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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