UK Offence Report

Lights on tidal works during construction

article 14(2) of The Caledonian MacBrayne Limited (Gott Bay Pier) Harbour Revision Order 1990

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 If the Company fails to comply in any respect with a direction given under this article it shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum and on conviction on indictment to 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 company
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 company 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 14(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Caledonian MacBrayne Limited (Gott Bay Pier) Harbour Revision Order 1990, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£2,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
17 December 1990
In force from
25 February 1991
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 transfers to and vests in Caledonian MacBrayne Limited the Gott Bay Pier undertaking on the Island of Tiree together with all rights, interests and privileges presently vested in or used by Strathclyde Regional Council in relation to that undertaking. Strathclyde Regional Council are the present undertakers at Gott Bay by virtue of section 154 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 which transferred the pier undertaking from Argyll County Council. Provision is made for all conveyances, contracts, agreements or deeds entered into by Strathclyde Regional Council in relation to that undertaking to remain binding and in full force against or in favour of the Company and for all legal or other proceedings in relation to that undertaking to be carried on with the substitution of the Company as a party to the proceedings in lieu of Strathclyde Regional Council. This Order also provides for an increase in harbour limits. The Order also provides that sections 202 and 203 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 shall apply to byelaws for the pier undertaking made by the Company and that byelaws and regulations in force when this Order comes into operation shall continue in force. This Order being subject to special parliamentary procedure, the provisions of the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Acts of 1945 and 1965 determine the date upon which it comes into force. The applicants for this Order are Caledonian MacBrayne Limited, The Ferry Terminal, Gourock, PA19 IQP.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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