3 A person guilty of an offence under this regulation shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not…

regulation 18(3) of The Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002

Status not determined
Strict liability
Either way
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries

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 A person guilty of an offence under this regulation shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum and on conviction on indictment to a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 18(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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Environmental offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 July 2014
Covers unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste, illegal discharges to air, land and water, and the equivalent offences committed by organisations. It is the guideline that introduced turnover bands for corporate fines, so the size of the defendant company is a starting point rather than a mitigating detail.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 14 May 2002
In force from: 15 May 2002
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

These Regulations are made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. They establish a regime for the purpose of implementing the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) Decision (2000/2) on a Harmonised Mandatory Control System for the Use and Reduction of the Discharge of Offshore Chemicals in relation to offshore activities (defined in regulation 2). The Regulations apply in relation to the sea adjacent to England and Wales, to the United Kingdom territorial sea apart from those areas comprised in Scottish controlled waters and to those areas of sea in any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964. Regulation 2 deals with definitions. Regulation 3 deals with the need for a permit in order to allow an operator to use and discharge chemicals; regulations 4 to 8 deal with the procedure for granting permits, the conditions of permits, the requirements for permit applications, the publicity for permit applications and fees. Regulation 9 makes provision for the duration of permits and regulation 10 allows for the renewal of permits. Regulation 11 allows for permits to be varied on application to the Secretary of State and regulation 12 deals with the review of permits and their conditions. Provision is made for the revocation and surrender of permits by regulation 13. Under regulation 14 the Secretary of State is required to maintain a public register of the provisions of permits and of certain information required to be supplied to her under those provisions. Regulation 15 requires operators to inform the Secretary of State of any breach of a permit or its conditions or of any accident or incident involving a significant effect on the environment. Under regulation 16 the Secretary of State can appoint Inspectors whose powers and duties are therein set out. Regulation 17 gives a right to appeal to the court against the Secretary of State’s decisions under the Regulations. Regulation 18 creates offences. Regulation 19 deals with service of notices and other documents. Regulations 20 and 21 respectively amend the Deposits in the Sea (Exemptions) Order 1985 and the Deposits in the Sea (Exemptions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1995. These Regulations come into force on [date]. After the prescribed date (regulation 2) a permit will be required for all use and discharge of offshore chemicals (regulation 3(1) subject to the provisions of regulation 3(2)). A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from Oil and Gas Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET (Tel. 020 7215 5151). These Regulations have been notified to the European Commission and the other member States in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L204, 21.7.98, p.37), as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L217, 5.8.98, p.18).

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.

Supplementary Charge In Respect Of Ring Fence Trades Commons · 9 May 2002 · Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury)
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that yesterday, a Standing Committee on statutory instruments passed the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002, which will add a burden of a further £1 million a year for the oil industry simply to apply for permits under the new regulations?
Environmental Protection Commons · 9 May 2002
That the draft Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002, which were laid before this House on 26th March, be approved.
Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 Lords · 13 May 2002

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 0.68.

Basis: the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence: 0.68 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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheriesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2002