UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 17 of The Recreational Craft Regulations 2004 (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

17 Any person who contravenes regulation 7, 9 or 20 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction— a to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months; or b to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 17?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes regulation 7, 9 or 20.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Recreational Craft Regulations 2004, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. 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)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2004-06-30); 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
26 May 2004
In force from
30 June 2004
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 keep implemented Directive 94/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member States relating to recreational craft (the Directive) and transpose the provisions of Directive 2003/44/EC which amends the Directive. Subject to certain limited exceptions, these Regulations revoke the Recreational Craft Regulations 1996 (as amended), which implemented the Directive. Those exceptions include a saving provision in respect of the application of the 1996 Regulations (and the disapplication of these Regulations) to the European Economic Area, outside the Community, until a relevant Decision of the EEA Joint Committee is made at which stage references in these Regulations to the Community or a member State shall include respectively a reference to the EEA or an EEA State, which are defined in regulation 2(2)(a). Certain provisions of these Regulations are brought into effect on and from 30th June 2004, being the date by which Directive 2003/44/EC must be implemented, to enable notified bodies to be assessed and appointed in advance of the remaining provisions coming into force on 1st January 2005 (regulation 1). Regulations 3 to 6 provide for the application of the Regulations. They apply to any product described in regulation 3(1) respectively relating to design and construction, exhaust emissions and noise emissions (relevant definitions are contained in regulation 2(1)). The application of the Regulations is not prevented in the case of a recreational craft or partly completed recreational craft which could be used for charter or recreational boating training when placed on the market for recreational purposes (regulation 3(2)). The Regulations do not apply in the circumstances described in regulation 3(3), 4, 5 or 6. Regulation 3(3) relates to the showing of a product at any trade fair or similar event if there is a visible sign indicating that it must be made to comply before being placed on the market. Furthermore, the Regulations do not apply to specified excluded products (regulation 4) or products placed on the market before 1st January 2005 (regulation 5). There are transitional arrangements in respect of specified products until respectively 31st December 2005 and 31st December 2006 subject to certain provisions relating to CE marking and provided that the relevant product complies with national rules in force on 16th June 2003 (regulation 6). Regulations 7 to 10 describe the requirements which various products must satisfy if they are to be placed on the market. (With the exception of regulations identified in the definition, “placing on the market” includes putting into service—regulation 2(1)). The basic requirements are set out in regulation 7: a product must satisfy the essential requirements which are applicable to it and meet certain other safety requirements. Except in the case of a partly completed craft and certain components, the appropriate conformity assessment procedure must have been carried out. In addition, in the case of the products specified in regulation 8(1), the CE marking must be affixed to a product (other than a partly completed craft) or, in the case of a component, to the product or its packaging. In the case of a partly completed recreational craft, it must be accompanied by the declaration set out in paragraph (a) of Schedule 3; as regards a component which is to be incorporated into a recreational craft, a written declaration of conformity in accordance with Schedule 14 and a declaration may be made in accordance with paragraph (b) of Schedule 3 in which case compliance with the appropriate conformity assessment procedure is not required and the CE marking indicates that the component complies with the essential requirements relevant to it. Certain engines which comply with relevant emission requirements of Directive 97/68/EC or Directive 88/77/EEC, in respect of which a declaration is made in accordance with Schedule 14.3, are deemed to satisfy the exhaust emission requirements of these Regulations (regulation 7(4)). The essential requirements (Annex I of the Directive, as amended) are set out in Schedule 1. The CE marking must be affixed in accordance with regulation 8 and Schedule 4. Regulation 9 makes provision for other markings and inscriptions. The conformity assessment procedures are set out in various “Modules” in Annexes V to XII, XVI and XVII of the Directive, as amended, (which are set out in Schedules 5 to 12, 15 and 16). The appropriate conformity assessment procedure is determined in accordance with regulation 10 and, in the case of boats, on the basis of certain categories of boat: the boat categories are set out in the essential requirements. For the purposes of various Modules, the technical documentation to be supplied by the manufacturer or his authorised representative established in the Community and the written declaration of conformity described in Annexes XIII and XV of the Directive are set out in Schedules 13 and 14. In the case of post-construction assessment of recreational craft, the appropriate conformity assessment procedure is set out in regulation 10(6) and the circumstances in which such assessment might be used are specified in regulation 7(2)(b)(i)(cc); the requirements as regards the CE marking of recreational craft in such circumstances are specified in regulation 8(9). Regulation 11 identifies notified bodies recognised for the purposes of these Regulations including those recognised by inclusion in a mutual recognition agreement or similar agreement. Provisions are made as regards the appointment of notified bodies by the Secretary of State to carry out conformity assessment procedures or surveillance or both together with the fees which such bodies may charge and the procedures required in the event of such a body being minded to refuse to issue an EC type-examination certificate (regulations 12 to 14). Regulations 15 to 21 and Schedule 17 relate to enforcement of the Regulations. The enforcement authorities are the weights and measures authorities in Great Britain and district councils in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, proceedings are brought by the procurator-fiscal or Lord Advocate. Regulation 17 provides for offences and penalties for breaches of the Regulations; there are also provisions relating to the defence of due diligence (regulation 18) as well as liability of persons other than the principal offender (regulation 19). Regulation 20 requires a person who places on the market a product specified in regulation 8(1) without a CE marking, or other products not requiring CE marking, to provide certain information. Regulation 21 enables proceedings to be brought within a period of twelve months after the offence was committed. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in respect of these Regulations is available and a copy can be obtained from the Department of Trade and Industry, Standards and Technical Regulations Directorate 4, 3rd floor, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SS. A transposition note setting out how the Government has transposed the main elements of Directive 2003/44/EC is available from the Department of Trade and Industry at the address above. Copies of the transposition note have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

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”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
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