UK Offence Report

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regulation 7(2) of The Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes) Regulations 1997

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

2 The operator of

a ship which transports, or the master who accepts for carriage, such

a bulk cargo without ensuring that paragraph (1) has been complied with shall be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 7(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. On these words an offence is committed where a master accepts for carriage, such a bulk cargo without ensuring that paragraph (1) has been complied with.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes) Regulations 1997.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
Revoked
Revoked by
The Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Cargoes) Regulations 1999
Revoked on
15 March 1999
Made
6 January 1997
In force from
6 February 1997
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

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, in relation to sea-going United Kingdom cargo carrying ships and to other sea-going cargo carrying ships while they are within the United Kingdom or the territorial waters thereof, to the amendments to Chapter VI of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 adopted on 23rd May 1991 by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation at its fifty-ninth session by Resolution MSC.22(59); and revoke and replace the Merchant Shipping (Grain) Regulations 1985. The Regulations require appropriate information relevant to the cargo and its stowage and securing to be provided in advance of loading (regulation 4). Ship operators and masters of United Kingdom cargo carrying ships, and of non-United Kingdom cargo carrying ships, are required to carry Codes of Safe Practices, or equivalent information, (regulation 5 and 11). The contents of one of these Codes (the International Grain Code) are made mandatory for ships carrying grain (regulation 11), and penalties are provided for breaches of certain provisions of that Code. Information on the ships' stability and on the distribution of cargo for the standard loading conditions is to be supplied by the operator and to be in the possession of the master before loading (regulation 9). Copies of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 1974, and amendments, of the various Codes referred to in the Regulations and of the Convention for Safe Containers 1972 are obtainable from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. Merchant Shipping Notices are obtainable from Eros Marketing Support Services, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN. A compliance cost assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Marine Information Centre of the Marine Safety Agency, Department of Transport, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament.

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