UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 12 of The Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations 1984

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

12 Any contravention a by any person of regulation 11(1) or (3) of these Regulations, or b by any skipper of regulation 11(2) of these Regulations, shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding £2,000 and on conviction on indictment by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 12?

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 Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations 1984.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£2,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
23 July 1984
In force from
1 September 1984
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 require certain UK fishing vessels and government fishery research vessels to carry a specified number of deck and engineer officers (regulations 3 and 4). Such officers must be qualified by holding an appropriate certificate of competency issued under these Regulations or an equivalent certificate (regulation 5). Existing certificates of competency issued under section 414 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 and certificates of service issued under these Regulations are to be treated as equivalent to specified certificates of competency issued under these Regulations ( regulation 7). Provision is made for specification by the Secretary of State of the standards and conditions for the issue of certificates of competency under these Regulations. The conditions for the issue of certificates of service are set out (regulation 8). Offences are created in the following cases: a acting in a capacity requiring a certificate without holding an appropriate certificate; b by a skipper permitting a person who does not hold an appropriate certificate to be in charge of a navigational watch; c appointing any person to act in a capacity for which he is not qualified under the Regulations ( regulations 11 and 12). Other relevant offences are contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1970: making a false statement to obtain a certificate or other document ( section 43(5)); going to sea undermanned ( section 45); and going to sea as a qualified person when unqualified (section 46). The Merchant Shipping (Fishing Boats) Order 1948, the Merchant Shipping (Fishing Boats) (Amendment) Order 1976, and the Merchant Shipping (United Kingdom Fishing Vessels: Manning) Regulations 1980 are revoked (regulation 1(3)). The Department of Transport publications setting out the detailed requirements regarding the certificates of competency may be amended or replaced, and such changes will be published in Merchant Shipping Notices obtainable from the Department of Transport Marine Library, Sunley House, 90 High Holborn London WC1 and from any Department of Transport Marine Office. Provisions of the Regulations which enable certificates to be issued under the Regulations come into operation on 1st September 1984, and other provisions come into operation on 1st January 1987.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.88 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