UK Offence Report

5 If the master of a ship fails to comply with regulation 9, that master shall be guilty of an offence and…

regulation 17(5) of The Merchant Shipping (Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2004

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

5 If the master of

a ship fails to comply with regulation 9, that master shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

a on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and

b on conviction on indictment to

a fine or to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 master
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
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

ons, other than an offence under regulation 17(2) or 17(8), it shall be a defence for a person charged under these Regulations to prove that he took all reasonable steps to avoid the commission of the offence.

What would breach regulation 17(5)?

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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Merchant Shipping (Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2004, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
10 August 2004
In force from
20 September 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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations, other than regulations 12(4) to (9), give effect, in relation to the whole of the United Kingdom, to Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 establishing a Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system and repealing Council Directive 93/75/EEC. The Regulations also give effect to similar provisions in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (the MARPOL Convention) and in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (the SOLAS Convention) relating to the notification of dangerous and polluting goods and the reporting of incidents and accidents at sea. Regulations 12(4) to (9) of these Regulations also give effect to Protocol I to the MARPOL Convention and Chapter VII regulation 7-1 of the SOLAS Convention. The principal provisions of these Regulations are as follows. Regulation 4 specifies the ships to which the Regulations apply. Provision is made imposing obligations to report the destination of a ship and provide other information, to require ships to participate in, and comply with the rules of, vessel traffic services and to install in ships, and maintain in operation, automatic identification systems. (Regulations 5 to 9) Provision is made requiring the notification of dangerous or polluting goods carried by ships and for the granting of exemptions from the requirements. (Regulations 10 and 11) The Regulations contain requirements relating to the reporting of incidents and accidents at sea (the terms “incident” and “accident” are defined in regulation 2(2)) and for measures to be taken in the event of an incident or accident and bad weather or sea conditions. (Regulations 12 to 15) Provision is made requiring that information provided under the Regulations be kept confidential. (Regulation 16) The Regulations contain provisions concerning the commission of offences under the Regulations, the punishments which may be imposed in respect of such offences and the defences to proceedings for an offence under the Regulations. (Regulations 17 to 20) The Regulations amend Schedule 3A to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and the following Regulations: the Merchant Shipping (Reporting Requirements for Ships Carrying Dangerous or Polluting Goods) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2498); the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/2154); the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997 (S.I. 1997/2367) ; and the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1473). (Regulation 22 and Schedules 1, 2 and 3) The main purpose of the amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Reporting Requirements for Ships Carrying Dangerous or Polluting Goods) Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2498) is to continue to give effect to the provisions in the MARPOL Convention and the SOLAS Convention concerning the reporting of incidents in relation to ships under 300 gross tonnage and fixed or floating installations in United Kingdom controlled waters. The amendments also give effect to the requirement for a United Kingdom ship carrying dangerous goods or harmful substances in packaged form on a voyage which does not involve a port in an EEA State to carry a manifest of those goods or substances. The following publications may be obtained from the International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SW1 7SR — a the SOLAS Convention; b the MARPOL Convention; c the International Codes referred to in the Regulations, namely the BC Code, the IBC Code, the IGC Code, the IMDG Code, the INF Code and the ISM Code; d the International Maritime Organization Resolution A.741(18) adopted on 4th November 1993; e the International Maritime Organization Resolution A.851(20) adopted on 27th November 1997; f the International Maritime Organization Resolution A.857(20) adopted on 27th November 1997. The publications referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) (with the exception of the INF Code) are defined in regulation 2(1). The INF Code is referred to in paragraph 1(b)(v) of Schedule 1. The rules of VTS schemes operated in the United Kingdom can be found in the Admiralty List of Radio Signals Volume 6, which is published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Admiralty Way Taunton Somerset TA1 2DN (telephone number 01823 337900; fax 01823 284077). Merchant Shipping Notices are published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Copies may be obtained from Mail Marketing (Scotland), Bloomsgrove Industrial Estate, Norton Street, Nottingham NG7 3JG (telephone number 0115 9013336; fax 0115 9013334; e-mail mca@promo-solution.com). They may also be accessed via the MCA’s website at www.mcga.gov.uk. A regulatory impact assessment of the effect which this instrument will have on the costs of business has been prepared and copies can be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105, Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG. A copy has been placed in each House of Parliament. A copy of the Transposition Note is also available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

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 0.92.

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