UK Offence Report

Offences by body corporate

regulation 12(3) of The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 1999

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

3 Where an offence under any of these Regulations committed by

a Scottish partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of,

a partner, he as well as the partnership is guilty of an offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

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 12(3)?

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 and Fishing Vessels (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 1999.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
3 August 1999
In force from
25 October 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, which revoke the Merchant Shipping (Protective Clothing and Equipment) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985/1664), give effect with respect to activities on United Kingdom ships to Council Directive 89/656/EEC on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment in the workplace (O.J. L393, 30.12.89, p. 18), and with respect to activities on non-United Kingdom ships which are in United Kingdom waters to The Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention 1976 (International Labour Organisation Convention 147) (Cmnd 7183). The Regulations apply to all United Kingdom ships (regulation 3(1)), and ships which are not United Kingdom ships when in United Kingdom waters are subject to regulations covering inspection and detention (regulations 3(2) and 15–17). The Regulations do not apply if the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2966) or the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993 (S.R. 1993/20) cover the matter (regulation 3(3)). The general rule is that personal protective equipment as defined (regulation 2(2)) shall be used when risks cannot be avoided or reduced (regulation 5) and an obligation is placed on the employer to ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided free of charge (unless the equipment is not exclusive to the work place) (regulation 6). Before providing the personal protective equipment the employer should ensure that an assessment is carried out to identify the characteristics required of personal protective equipment (regulation 7). The employer is required to ensure that: personal protective equipment is either given to the worker for individual use (regulation 8(1)) or adjustable to fit all sizes, easily accessible and kept in a hygienic condition (regulation 8(2)); instructions for use and maintenance of the personal protective equipment are available and comprehensible (regulation 8(3)); personal protective equipment is properly stored, maintained and inspected (regulation 8(4)); workers are provided with training and instruction as regards the use and maintenance of the personal protective equipment (regulation 9); and to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure the personal protective equipment is used as instructed (regulation 10(1)). The worker is required to use personal protective equipment provided by the employer and follow any training and instruction provided to him (regulation 10(2)). Contravention of each separate duty provided for in these Regulations is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of £5000 in the case of a duty imposed on the employer and with a maximum penalty of £500 in the case of a duty imposed on the worker (regulation 11). Provision is made for corporate and partnership offences (regulation 12) and the burden of showing that compliance with a duty in these Regulations was not reasonably practicable is on the defendant (regulation 13). Inspection and detention of United Kingdom and non-United Kingdom ships are separately provided for (regulations 14 and 15), and sections in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 dealing with arbitration and compensation are applied (regulation 17). These regulations are made under powers contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, except in respect of their application to Government ships.

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”
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