UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 8(1) of The Fishing Vessels (Safety of 15–24 Metre Vessels) Regulations 2002 (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

1 Subject to paragraph (2), if

a vessel proceeds or attempts to proceed on any voyage in contravention of regulation 4(1), then the owner shall be guilty of an offence, punishable only on summary conviction by

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

What would breach regulation 8(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 (Safety of 15–24 Metre Vessels) Regulations 2002, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2002-11-23); 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
21 August 2002
In force from
23 November 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

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations provide for fishing vessels of at least 15 metres length overall but less than 24 metres registered length to comply with the requirements of the “Code of Safe Working Practice for the Construction and Use of 15 metre (LOA) to less than 24 metre (L) Fishing Vessels” (“the Code of Practice”) published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (regulations 3 and 4). The Regulations amend the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975 and the Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) (Fishing Vessels) Regulations 1975, so that those instruments no longer apply to fishing vessels of less than 24 metres registered length. They amend the Fishing Vessels (Life-Saving Appliances) Regulations 1988 so that they only apply to existing vessels of 24 metres in length and over. They also amend the Merchant Shipping (Radio) (Fishing Vessels) Regulations 1999 so that Part III of that instrument applies to new and existing fishing vessels of at least 15 metres length overall. The Fishing Vessels (Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Fishing Vessels) Regulations 2001 are also amended so that that instrument applies to fishing vessels of less than 15 metres length overall. (Regulation 13 and the Schedule). The Regulations provide that if a vessel proceeds or attempts to proceed on any voyage without complying with the Code of Practice, that is an offence on the part of the owner or the skipper (regulation 4). The Regulations provide for penalties (regulation 8), and for the inspection and detention of vessels (regulations 9 to 12). The Regulations provide for equivalent provisions (regulation 5), the giving of approvals (regulation 6) and exemptions (regulation 7). Transitional provision is made in relation to existing certificates (regulation 14). A Regulatory Impact Assessment and a Transposition Note have been produced and a copy placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG, (telephone number 023 8032 9297). The Transposition Note explains how EC Directive 93/103/EC is transposed by these Regulations, but in a different way to previously. The Code of Practice referred to in these Regulations is published as Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1770 by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Copies may be obtained from Mail Marketing (Scotland), Unit 6, Bloomsgrove Industrial Estate, Norton Street, Nottingham NG7 3JG, (telephone 0115 901 3336; fax 0115 901 3334; e-mail orders mca@promo-solution.com). The Code may also be accessed via the MCA’s website http://www.mcga.gov.uk. These Regulations were notified in draft to the European Commission in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC of 22nd June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ L 204, 21/7/1998, p. 37–48).

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