UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 6(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel etc.) (INF Code) Regulations 2000

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 If there is

a breach of regulations 4(2) or 5, the operator and master shall each be guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Legal burden on the defendant

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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

nt for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both. 3 It shall be a defence for a person charged under these Regulations to show that he took all reasonable steps to avoid the commission of the offence.

What would breach regulation 6(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 Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel etc.) (INF Code) Regulations 2000, 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
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
7 December 2000
In force from
1 January 2001
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 amendments to Chapter VII (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea 1974, as amended (SOLAS) adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization on 27 May 1999 at its 71st session by Resolution MSC 87(71). The purpose of these amendments is to give effect to the International Code for the Safe Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes on Board Ships (“the INF Code”), which was adopted at the same session of the Maritime Safety Committee by Resolution 88(71). The text of the Code appears as an Annex to that Resolution. The Regulations apply from 1 January 2001 to all ships, regardless of size, engaged in the carriage of packaged irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes. Ships are required to hold a valid International Certificate of Fitness, which is issued in relation to United Kingdom ships by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State, certifying that they have been constructed to certain standards including such matters as strength and stability, fire protection, cargo securement and temperature control, and integrity of power supplies. The INF Code and the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 1974 (SOLAS), its Protocol and amendments thereto may be obtained from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR (telephone 020-7735 7611). Merchant Shipping Notices can be obtained from iForce Marketing Support Services, Unit B, Imber Court Trading Estate, Orchard Lane, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0BN (telephone 020-8957 5028). A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been carried out and a copy placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Maritime Information Centre, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 02380-329295).

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”
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