UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 8 of The Merchant Shipping (Co-operation with Search and Rescue Services) 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

8 If there is any contravention of regulation

7 above in respect of

a ship, the owner shall be guilty of an offence 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 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 8?

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 there is any contravention of regulation 7 above in respect of a ship.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Co-operation with Search and Rescue Services) Regulations 1998, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. 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
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
6 July 1998
In force from
10 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 implement regulation 15(c) of Chapter V of the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (SOLAS) as adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Governments to SOLAS on 29 November 1995. The Regulations require the owners of passenger ships to prepare a plan, in consultation with the appropriate search and rescue services, setting out the steps to be taken by those on board the ship if the ship requires the assistance of the search and rescue services. The ship must carry this plan at all times. Failure to carry the plan renders the owner guilty of an offence (regulation 8). A compliance cost assessment has been produced and a copy placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Bay 2/21b Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone: 01703 329144). Merchant Shipping Notices are obtainable from Eros Marketing Support Services Ltd, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN, (telephone number: 0181 957 5028). Copies of SOLAS may be obtained 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