UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 9(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998 (revoked)

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 Contravention of any provision of regulation

5 above shall be an offence by the owner and the master of the vessel punishable on summary conviction by

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or on conviction on indictment by imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or

a fine, or both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

4 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable steps to avoid commission of the offence.

What would breach regulation 9(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 (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998, 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
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 15030 — 15030 - Offences against Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
2 July 1998
In force from
3 August 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 revoke the Merchant Shipping (Pilot Boats) Regulations 1991 and re-enact them with amendments. In addition the Regulations make provision in respect of small workboats generally. In relation to pilot boats, the Regulations provide that they shall comply with the Code of Practice “The Safety of Small Workboats and Pilot Boats—A Code of Practice”. The substantive provisions of this Code of Practice are largely the same as those under the 1991 Regulations. The principal changes are in relation to certification, in particular in relation to the certification of workboats which are used as pilot boats on an occasional basis. In relation to small workboats, the Regulations provide that such vessels may, as an alternative to complying with the instruments specified in the Schedule to these Regulations, comply with the requirements of the above Code of Practice (regulation 5(1)). A compliance cost assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone: 01703 329152). A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. The Code of Practice referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Merchant Shipping Notices may be obtained from Eros Marketing Support Services, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesley, Surrey KT8 0BN. These Regulations and the Code of Practice have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ 1983 L 109, p.8) as amended by Council Directive 88/182/EEC of 22 March 1988 (OJ 1988 L 81, p.75) and European Parliament and Council Directive 94/10/EEC of 23 March 1994 (OJ 1994 L 100, p.30).

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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.88 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