UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Merchant Shipping (Navigation Bridge Visibility) Regulations 1998

the instrument as a whole of The Merchant Shipping (Navigation Bridge Visibility) Regulations 1998

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 85(5)-(7) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Merchant Shipping (Navigation Bridge Visibility) Regulations 1998.

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 85(5)-(7) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

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 June 1998
In force from
1 July 1998
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 give effect to amendments to Regulation 22 of Chapter V of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 1974 (SOLAS) adopted on 23rd May by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) set out in Annex 2 of the MSC Resolution MSC.31(63). They contain requirements for all ships of 45 metres or more in length constructed on or after 1st July 1998 as to the visibility from the navigation bridge (including the position and construction of the windows) (Regulation 5). Existing such ships are required to comply, so far as practicable, with regulation 4(1)(a) and (b) (certain provisions relating to the view of the sea from the conning position) (Regulation 6). The Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships of Classes IV, V, VI and VI(A)—Bridge Visibility) Regulations 1992 are amended so that they cease to apply to ships of 45 metres or more in length (Regulation 3). The SOLAS Convention and MSC Resolution MSC.31(63) may be obtained from IMO, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. Document EN ISO 8468 (the “ISO standards” referred to in regulation 2(2)) may be obtained from BS, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL.

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 0.67.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.67 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