UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 14(1) of The Fishing Vessels (EC Directive on Harmonised Safety Regime) 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

1 Any contravention of regulation 6 or 7 shall be an offence by the owner and skipper, punishable on summary conviction by a maximum fine of an amount not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach regulation 14(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 Fishing Vessels (EC Directive on Harmonised Safety Regime) Regulations 1999, 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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1999-12-01); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
28 October 1999
In force from
1 December 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 give effect in part to Council Directive 97/70/EC setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over (OJ L34, 9.2.98, p.1) as amended by Commisson Directive 1999/19/EC (OJ L83, 27.3.99, p.48) which is not relevant to these Regulations (“the Council Directive”). The Council Directive essentially provides for compliance with the Torremolinos Protocol (Cmnd. 3339) relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels 1977 (Cmnd. 7252) (“the Torremolinos Protocol”). In particular, regulation 6 (general compliance with the Torremolinos Protocol) gives effect to Article 3 of the Council Directive; regulation 7 (standards for design, construction and maintenance) gives effect to Article 5; regulations 9 and 10 (surveys and issue of certificates) give effect to Article 6; and regulation 17 (control provisions) gives effect to Article 7. The Regulations primarily affect new (post 1st January 1999) fishing vessels. In relation to new United Kingdom fishing vessels of 24 metres or more in length: the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975 (S.I. 1975/330), as amended (“the 1975 Rules”) cease to apply, except for certain Rules which implement requirements in other EC Directives, and provisions for survey of radio equipment (Schedule 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 and Schedule 2); such vessels are instead required to comply with Chapters II to VIII and X of the Torremolinos Protocol as modified in Schedule 3 to the Regulations (regulation 6); new survey and certification requirements are imposed (regulations 10 to 13); and references in other enactments to fishing vessel certificates (other than under Chapter II of Part V of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995) include references to certificates under these Regulations (regulation 19). For existing UK fishing vessels of 24 metres or more in length the 1975 Rules in general continue to apply except for matters covered by the Torremolinos Protocol. A certificate of compliance, record of equipment and exemption certificate (if appropriate) in a form set out in Annex V to the Council Directive will be issued in addition to any certificates required under the 1975 Rules. From 1st January 2000 certificates are to be issued in accordance with paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to these Regulations which adds Rule 126B to the 1975 Rules. Non-United Kingdom fishing vessels are now subject to control in certain circumstances (regulations 17 and 18(2)). A Regulatory Impact 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, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone number 01703 329130). Merchant Shipping Notices are obtainable from EROS Marketing Support Services, Delta House, the Imber Court Business Park, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN (telephone number 0181 957 5028). Copies of the Torremolinos Protocol can be obtained from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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