UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 10(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Gas Carriers) Regulations 1994

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 a If there is a breach of regulation 3, 6 or 9 in relation to a ship then the owner and master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or, on indictment, to a fine. b If there is a breach of regulation 4(2) of these Regulations then the owner of a ship shall commit an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 master
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

eding the statutory maximum or, on indictment, to a fine. 2 It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under these Regulations to prove that he took all reasonable steps to ensure that the Regulations were complied with.

What would breach regulation 10(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 an offence is committed where there is a breach of regulation 4(2) of these Regulations then.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Gas Carriers) Regulations 1994, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
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
19 September 1994
In force from
1 October 1994
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 replace the Merchant Shipping (Gas Carriers) Regulations 1986. These Regulations require gas carriers built on or after 1 July 1986, but before 1st October 1994, and ships converted during that period into gas carriers, to comply with the provisions of the 1983 edition of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (the IGC Code). Gas carriers built or converted on or after 1st October 1994 are similarly required to comply with the 1993 edition of the IGC Code. The 1993 edition of the IGC Code incorporates amendments adopted by the Marine Safety Committee (MSC) of the International Maritime Organization. The MSC adopted the amendments at its 61st session (December 1992) by resolution MSC 30(61). Copies of the 1974 SOLAS Convention and the IGC Codes can be obtained from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. Merchant Shipping Notices can be obtained from the Marine Safety Agency, Department of Transport, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG, or any Marine Office of the Marine Safety Agency.

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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”; the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.96 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