UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1996

the instrument as a whole of The Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1996

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1996.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
8 August 1996
In force from
1 September 1996
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 Instrument) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail, insofar as it relates to the transport of dangerous goods (other than radioactive material). The Regulations impose requirements and prohibitions in relation to the carriage of dangerous goods by rail in a container, package, tank container, tank wagon or wagon. They revoke section 35 of the Explosives Act 1875 to the extent specified, the Conveyance by Rail of Military Explosives Regulations 1977 and the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail Regulations 1994. The terms and expressions used in the Regulations are defined in regulation 1 and the scope of the Regulations is defined in regulation 2. The Regulations— require the approval and publication by the Health and Safety Commission of the “approved documents”, comprising the “Approved Carriage List” and the “Approved Tank Requirements”, and set out the duties of specified persons involved in the carriage of dangerous goods in relation to the requirements of those documents (regulations 3 and 4); prohibit the carriage of dangerous goods in wagons and large containers in bulk, in small containers and in tanks, unless in each case certain requirements are complied with (regulations 5—7); require containers, packages, tank containers, tank wagons, and wagons used for the carriage of dangerous goods to be suitable for such carriage and adequately maintained (regulation 8); require tanks constructed after 31st December 1998 and used for the carriage of dangerous goods to comply with specified provisions relating to their design and suitability, and to be examined, tested and certified, and provide for the keeping of certificates issued in connection therewith (regulation 9); prohibit the carriage of dangerous goods in any container, tank container, tank wagon or wagon unless the operator thereof has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that those goods have been classified, packaged and labelled in accordance with specified Regulations (regulation 10); require Carriage Information to be provided to operators of containers, tank containers, tank wagons and wagons, train operators, and infrastructure controllers prior to carriage and for that information to be kept (regulations 11—13); require specified information to be displayed on any container, tank container, tank wagon or wagon used for the carriage of dangerous goods and impose duties in relation to that display (regulation 14 and schedule 5); require train crew members and employees of infrastructure controllers who have responsibilities in connection with the carriage of dangerous goods to receive adequate information, instruction and training, and records of such training to be kept and made available to trainees (regulation 15); prohibit the overfilling with dangerous goods of tank containers and tank wagons and the carriage of specified mixed or inadequately segregated loads (regulations 16 and 17 and schedule 6); impose requirements in relation to the loading, stowage, unloading and cleaning of containers, tank containers, tank wagons and wagons used for the carriage of dangerous goods (regulation 18 and schedule 7); require openings in any tank container or tank wagon and any valves and caps to be securely closed prior to and during carriage of dangerous goods (regulation 19); require train operators to ensure the safe marshalling and formation of trains carrying dangerous goods (regulation 20); impose requirements to ensure the safe carriage and security of dangerous goods and to prevent fire or explosion during carriage (regulations 21 and 22); require train operators, facility owners and infrastructure controllers to draw up emergency arrangements and to co-operate with each other to ensure effective co-ordination of those arrangements (regulation 23); impose— prohibitions and restrictions on the carriage of explosives (including on passenger trains), requirements in relation to the loading, stowage, unloading and cleaning of containers and wagons used for the carriage of explosives, and requirements in relation to security (regulations 24—28); prohibit the carriage of temperature controlled substances (regulation 29); permit the granting of exemptions by the Health and Safety Executive or the Secretary of State for Defence in given circumstances (regulation 30); provide a defence to the Regulations, allow alternative compliance with specified international provisions, where those provisions apply to a matter to which these Regulations apply, and provide a transitional defence (regulations 31—33); and set out repeals, revocations and consequential amendments (regulation 34). Copies of relevant documents may be obtained as follows— the Approved Carriage List, Approved Tank Requirements and Approved Requirements and Test Methods for the Classification and Packaging of Dangerous Goods for Carriage from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS; Dillons; Rymans the Stationer; and all good booksellers; the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road ( “ADR”) (1995 edition) [ISBN 0-11-551265-9] and the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail ( “COTIF”), Cmnd.5897, from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office; the current edition of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code [volumes I to IV ISBN 92-801-1314-3, volume V ISBN 92-801-1316-X] from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR; the Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail ( “RID”) (1995 edition) [ISBN 0-11-551266-7]; and the current edition of the Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air [Doc 9284-AN/905 and supplement] from Civil Aviation Authority, Printing and Publications Service, Greville House, 37 Gratton Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 2BN. A copy of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Safety Policy Directorate, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. A copy has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.

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 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 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