UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 14(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) 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

1 If there is any contravention of these Regulations 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 conviction on indictment, by 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

utory maximum, or on conviction on indictment, by 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 in question were complied with.

What would breach regulation 14(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 (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1996, 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
£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
29 November 1996
In force from
1 January 1997
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 with some changes the Merchant Shipping (IBC Code) Regulations 1987 (as amended); the Merchant Shipping (BCH Code) Regulations 1987 (as amended) and the Merchant Shipping (Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1987 (as amended). The consolidation takes into account the 1992 amendments to the IBC Code, BCH Code and Annex II of MARPOL 1973/78 as set out in MEPC Resolutions, MEPC 55(33), which allow port state control inspection of operational requirements. A number of the detailed technical requirements and specifications are now contained in a Merchant Shipping Notice. The Regulations apply to ships carrying in bulk dangerous or noxious liquid substances. They apply to United Kingdom ships wherever they may be and to other ships when in United Kingdom waters. In addition the prohibition on discharges of noxious liquid substances or pollution hazard substances and tank washing applies to such other ships when beyond United Kingdom waters (if in waters which are sea), subject to certain limitations on bringing proceedings, or requirements for suspending proceedings, required by the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982 (Cmnd. 8941). Merchant Shipping Notices are obtainable from Eros Marketing Support Services Ltd, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesley, Surrey KT8 0BN. The SOLAS Convention, the MARPOL Convention, their Protocols and amendments and the Codes and circulars referred to in the Regulations are obtainable from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.

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 0.92.

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