UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 50(2) of The Merchant Shipping (Radio Installations) 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

2 If these Regulations are contravened in any other respect in relation to any ship, the owner and master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction to

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

a term not exceeding

2 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
a master
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 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 50(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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Radio Installations) 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
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
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

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
20 August 1998
In force from
28 September 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 and replace, with amendments, the Merchant Shipping (Radio Installations) Regulations 1992. They give effect to Chapter IV of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (SOLAS), including amendments adopted by states party to that Convention at a Conference on the Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems (GMDSS) on 11 November 1988 and at Conferences on 11 December 1992 and 29 November 1995. GMDSS is the International Maritime Organisation’s world-wide network of automated emergency communications for vessels at sea. In addition to minor drafting amendments, the changes of substance to the 1992 Regulations require that ships of Class I, II or II(A) have a distress panel on board located at the conning position (regulation 10), that means be provided for two-way on-scene radio communications for search and rescue purposes (regulation 11(4)) and that at least one person qualified for distress and safety radio communications be assigned to perform only radio communication duties during distress incidents (regulation 19(2)(a)). Part II contains the GMDSS provisions. It requires new ships to carry new types of radio equipment including equipment for satellite communication, emergency radio beacons (EPIRBs) and other items. The carriage requirements depend on the ship’s area of operations. For this purpose the world is divided up under the GMDSS into four sea areas: area A1 which is within range of VHF coastal radio; area A2 which is within range of MF coastal radio; area A3 which is within coverage of geostationary satellites; and area A4 which covers the remainder of the world. The requirements for maintenance of the equipment carried permit some flexibility: maintenance may be achieved by duplication of equipment by shore-based maintenance or by an at-sea maintenance capability. A compliance cost assessment has been produced and a copy laid in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone: 01703 329134). Copies of SOLAS may be obtained from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. Merchant Shipping Notices may be obtained from Eros Marketing Support Services, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN (telephone number 0181 957 5028).

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”; 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