UK Offence Report

The Secretary of State may make regulations (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”) for the purpose…

article 2 of The Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation Convention) Order 1997

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 The Secretary of State may make regulations (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations”) for the purpose of giving effect to the Convention and the Regulations may in particular include provision— a with respect to the carrying out of inspections for that purpose; b with respect to the extra-territorial operation of the Regulations; c that specified contraventions of the Regulations shall be offences punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum and on conviction on indictment by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine; d that any such contraventions of the Regulations shall be offences punishable only on summary conviction by a maximum fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or such less amount as is prescribed by the Regulations; and the Regulations may— i make different provisions for different circumstances; ii make provision in terms of any document which the Secretary of State or any person considers relevant from time to time; iii provide for exemptions from any provisions of the Regulations; iv provide for the delegation of functions exercisable by virtue of the Regulations; and v include such incidental, supplemental and transitional provisions as appear to the Secretary of State to be expedient for the purposes of the Regulations.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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 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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation Convention) Order 1997.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1997-12-02); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
30 October 1997
In force from
2 December 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order enables effect to be given to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990, by the making of regulations. Copies of the Convention can be obtained from the International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.

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 0.60.

Basis
the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.60 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