UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 10(1) of The Merchant Shipping (High Speed 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

1 Any contravention of these Regulations, other than regulation 9, in respect of

a high speed craft shall be an offence by both the owner and the master of that craft punishable on summary conviction by

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum and on conviction on indictment by imprisonment for

a term not exceeding two years or

a fine, 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 10(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 (High Speed Craft) Regulations 2004, 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
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
9 February 2004
In force from
8 March 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 implement the requirements of Chapter X of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (“the SOLAS Convention”) as amended. The scope of application of the Regulations is set out in regulation 3: they apply in relation to ships and hovercraft to which Chapter X of the SOLAS Convention applies and additionally in relation to other ships as set out in that regulation. The requirements of the High Speed Craft Code continue to apply to craft constructed before 1st July 2002. The Regulations also apply the requirements of the High Speed Code 2000 to craft constructed on or after that date (regulation 6). The substantive requirements of the Regulations are imposed by reference to Chapter X of the SOLAS Convention, together with corresponding, alternative and additional requirements as set out in Merchant Shipping Notice M.1672. Additional provision is made regarding risk assessment of the wash from the vessel (regulation 7) and the maximum number of passengers with which a passenger craft is allowed to operate (regulation 8) High speed craft to which the Merchant Shipping (Domestic Passenger Ships) (Safety Management Code) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/3209) have previously applied will be required by these Regulations to comply with the requirements of the International Safety Management Code (paragraphs 2 and 9 of the Schedule). Provision is made for exemptions to be granted by the Secretary of State where he is satisfied that compliance with those requirements would be impracticable or unreasonable and an equivalent level of safety will be provided (regulation 4), and for approvals in accordance with the SOLAS Chapter X requirements (regulation 5). Provision is made for offences and penalties for non-compliance (regulation 9), for detention (regulation 10), and for offences by persons on board the craft (regulation 11). The Merchant Shipping (High-Speed Craft) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/3188) are revoked, and statutory references to those regulations updated, and the Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 1995 S.I. (1995/1210) are amended (regulation 12 and the Schedule). The Regulations are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in so far as they so amend Regulations which have been made under that Act. A Regulatory Impact Assessment 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 the Library of each House of Parliament. Merchant Shipping Notices can be read or downloaded free from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency website (www.mcga.gov.uk). Printed copies can be obtained from Mail Marketing (Scotland) Ltd, Unit 6 Bloomsgrove Industrial Estate, Norton Street, Nottingham, NG7 3JG (telephone 0115 901 3336).

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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.88 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