UK Offence Report

Offence of employing suspended or disqualified masters

regulation 11(1) of The Sea Fishing (Points for Masters of Fishing Boats) (Scotland) Regulations 2014

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

1 It is an offence for

a person to employ

a master to master

a UK fishing boat if the register of masters indicates that the master is suspended or has been disqualified.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 regulation 11(1)?

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 employ a master to master a UK fishing boat if the register of masters indicates that the master is suspended or has been disqualified.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sea Fishing (Points for Masters of Fishing Boats) (Scotland) Regulations 2014.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
18 December 2014
In force from
2 February 2015
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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Article 92(6) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy (“the Control Regulation”). The Regulations set up a system for the allocation of points to the masters of Scottish fishing boats who are British nationals and who have committed serious infringements of EU fisheries law. Regulation 3 provides that the Scottish Ministers are responsible for allocating points to such masters. Regulation 4 provides for the notification of suspension periods and disqualifications to the Marine Management Organisation, for the purpose of enabling that Organisation to maintain a UK-wide register of masters who have been allocated points. Regulation 5 requires the Scottish Ministers to notify masters of Scottish fishing boats who are to be prosecuted in Scotland of the points that would be allocated if they were convicted of serious infringements of EU fisheries law. Regulations 7 and 8 provide for the allocation of points to masters. Regulation 9 provides for masters to be allocated a maximum of 12 points in respect of multiple serious infringements detected by an enforcement officer in the course of one inspection. Regulation 10 provides for masters to be suspended from mastering Scottish fishing boats for various periods, depending on the number of points they accumulate. Under regulation 10(3), masters are disqualified from mastering Scottish fishing boats if they accumulate 90 points at any one time. Under regulation 10(5), it is an offence for a master to master a Scottish fishing boat while suspended or disqualified from doing so. Regulation 11 makes it an offence for a person to employ a disqualified or suspended master to master a UK fishing boat. Regulation 12 provides that a person convicted of an offence under these Regulations is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine. A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (“BRIA”) has been prepared in relation to these Regulations and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies of the BRIA are available from Marine Scotland, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ and on line at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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