UK Offence Report

Amendment of regulation 15 (Offences)

regulation 8 of The Merchant Shipping (Reporting Requirements for Ships carrying Dangerous or Polluting Goods) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (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

8 In regulation

15 of the principal Regulations:

a in paragraph (3), “5(1),” shall be omitted,

b sub-paragraph (4)(a) shall be omitted, and

c after paragraph (4) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs: 4A If in respect of

a fixed or floating installation–

a there is any contravention of regulation 9(3) or of regulation

10 in so far as it relates to regulation 9(4); or

b the owner in purported compliance with regulation 9(3) makes

a notification or report which he knows to be false in

a material particular, the owner of the installation shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

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

a fine. 4B If in respect of

a fixed or floating installation, the installation manager–

a contravenes regulation 9(1) or (4) or regulation

10 in so far as it relates to regulation 9(1) or (4) he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

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

a fine; or

b in purported compliance with regulation 9, makes

a notification which he knows to be false in

a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum. .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Merchant Shipping (Reporting Requirements for Ships carrying Dangerous or Polluting Goods) (Amendment) Regulations 1999.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
26 July 1999
In force from
1 September 1999
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 amend the Merchant Shipping (Reporting Requirements for Ships carrying Dangerous or Polluting Goods) Regulations 1995 (“the principal Regulations”). The principal Regulations implement (inter alia) Council Directive 93/75/EEC relating to vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods. That Directive has been amended by Council Directive 98/55/EC (O.J. L215, 1.8.98, p. 65). These Regulations implement that amending Directive by amending certain of the definitions in regulation 2(2) of the principal Regulations (regulation 2) and by incorporating in the principal Regulations references to a revised Merchant Shipping Notice (regulations 4 to 7). The principal Regulations also implement Protocol 1 to the Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 (MARPOL) and Chapter VII, regulation 7 – 1 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (SOLAS), which make provision concerning reports on incidents involving harmful substances. Protocol 1 of MARPOL was amended by the Marine Environment Protection Committee Resolution MEPC.68(38) adopted on 10th July 1996. In addition to drafting amendments, including amendments to clarify the application of the Regulations to fixed and floating installations, these Regulations implement this amendment by amending regulation 9 of the principal Regulations, in particular by requiring a report to be made in certain circumstances involving damage, failure or breakdown of a ship of 15 metres in length or above (regulation 6). Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 is cited as an enabling power in relation to regulation 6, which re-enacts regulation 9(1)(d) of the principal Regulations. Regulation 15 of the principal Regulations, which makes provision as to offences, is amended to remove references to the master in connection with contraventions of and false notifications under regulation 5(1) of the Regulations and to clarify the application of this regulation with regard to installations (regulation 8). A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been produced and a copy laid in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR (telephone number 0171 890 5424). Merchant Shipping Notices may be obtained from Eros Marketing Support Services, Delta House, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN (telephone number 0181 957 5028). Copies of the IMDG and INF Codes and of MARPOL and amendments thereto may be obtained from the International Maritime Organisation, 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 0.96.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.96 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