UK Offence Report

1 The byelaws which may be made by the Trustees under section 83 of the Harbours Docks and Piers Clauses Act…

article 9(1) of The Gloucester Harbour Revision Order 1988

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 The byelaws which may be made by the Trustees under section

83 of the Harbours Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 or otherwise under the Gloucester Harbour Orders 1889 to 1988 may provide that any person contravening or failing to comply with any byelaw shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding £400.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 9(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Gloucester Harbour Revision Order 1988, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£400
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
29 March 1988
In force from
30 March 1988
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 reconstitutes the Gloucester Harbour Trustees so as to consist of not less than nine nor more than twelve persons for terms of three years, of whom nine shall be appointed as follows— a three by the British Waterways Board; b one representative of shipowning interests trading to or within or using the Port of Gloucester, jointly by the General Council of British Shipping and the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers; c one representative of commercial interests other than those of the British Waterways Board trading to or within, or dependent upon the harbour, by the Trustees otherwise appointed after appropriate consultation; d one by the Central Electricity Generating Board; e one by the Gloucestershire County Council; f one by the Gloucester City Council; g one by the Stroud District Council. If a majority of the relevant licensed or authorised pilots agree not to require contracts of employment then an additional Trustee representing the pilots shall be appointed by the Amalgamated Gloucester Pilots, or otherwise by the Trustees after appropriate consultation; but this appointment ceases if subsequently pilots become so employed. In addition, the foregoing Trustees may co-opt two further Trustees. The Order also makes further provision as to the Trustees' powers respecting a reserve fund, the acceptance of gifts, borrowing powers and byelaws. It further re-defines the limits of the harbour of Gloucester, and extends the inward limits in the River Severn. The applicants for this Order are the Gloucester Harbour Trustees.

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 0.72.

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