UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 5(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1989

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 Where any of these Regulations is contravened, the owner of the vessel, the master and any person for the time being responsible for the conduct of the vessel shall each be guilty of an offence, punishable on conviction on indictment by imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years and

a fine, or on summary conviction:–

a in the case of any infringement of Rule 10(b)(i) (duty to proceed with traffic flow in lanes of separation schemes) of the International Regulations (being an offence corresponding to an offence under section 419(2) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894) and by

a fine not exceeding £50,000; and

b in any other case by

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 master
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 master 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 5(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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1989, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 September 1989
In force from
19 November 1989
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 give effect to the amendments made by Resolution A626(15) of the International Maritime Organization to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions At Sea 1972. The amendments come into effect internationally on 19th November 1989. United Kingdom vessels (including hovercraft) wherever they may be, and other vessels in United Kingdom waters are required to comply with the International Regulations as so amended; and the signals of distress set out in Annex IV to the International Regulations are prescribed for use by vessels as such signals. (Provision for seaplanes on the surface of the water will be made in another statutory instrument.) The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1983 are revoked except for the provisions therein effecting amendments to previous Acts and Instruments. The International Regulations previously contained in that Instrument are set out in full in the Schedule to these Regulations with the amendments now effected. The principal changes to the International Regulations are: 1 In Rule 1(e) the discretion of the government of the flag State to permit vessels of special construction or purpose not to comply fully with the requirements as to lights, shapes and sounds signalling appliances is widened to a limited extent. 2 In Rule 3(h) the definition of “vessel constrained by her draught” is narrowed to cover vessels which because of their draught are restricted in their ability to move by the available width as well as by the available depth of navigable waters. (Such vessels are entitled to special privileges under Rule 18(d).) 3 Rule 8 is amended by the addition of a paragraph spelling out in more detail the duties of a vessel which by any of the Rules is required not to impede another vessel and the duties of the vessel which is not to be impeded. 4 Rule 10(a) (traffic separation schemes) is amended to include a statement that the rules for traffic separation schemes do not over-ride other rules. 5 Rule 10(c) is amended to clarify the course to be steered when crossing a traffic separation scheme. 6 In Annex IV, paragraph 1(o), approved signals made by radio communications are included amongst the distress signals specified. Admiralty Notices to Mariners are published by the Hydrographer of the Navy and are obtainable from Admiralty Chart Agents appointed by the Hydrographer. Admiralty Notice to Mariners No. 2 contains a list of Admiralty Chart Agents. The Chromaticity Chart mentioned in Annex I to the International Regulations is published in CIE publication No. 2.2 and is obtainable from the National Illumination Committee of Great Britain, c/o Building Research Station, Watford WD2 7JR. The Merchant Ship Search and Rescue Manual mentioned in Annex IV of the International Regulations is obtainable from the International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. The International Code of Signals mentioned in Annex IV of the International Regulations is obtainable from H.M. Stationery Office. Merchant Shipping Notices are available from the Department of Transport Library, Sunley House, High Holborn, London WC1.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.61.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.61 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