UK Offence Report

Offence in relation to transfers of days

article 13 of The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) (Monitoring, Inspection and Surveillance) Order 2006

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

13 A person is guilty of an offence if he makes

a false declaration in

a notification made in respect of

a transfer pursuant to article 12.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 article 13?

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 makes a false declaration in a notification made in respect of a transfer pursuant to article 12.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) (Monitoring, Inspection and Surveillance) Order 2006.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
11 May 2006
In force from
1 June 2006
Extent
E+W

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.

This Order provides for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of Annex IIA and IIC (“the Annexes”) to Council Regulation (EC) No 51/2006 (OJ No L16, 20.1.06, p1) fixing for 2006 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (“the Regulation”). The Order contains provisions which create a management system for days at sea based on monthly entitlements and linked to management periods. Article 4 deals with the establishment of management periods. Article 6 contains offences in relation to management periods. Article 7 provides for the calculation of allocation of days for fishing in the Cod Recovery and Sole Recovery Zones which are defined in article 3 as covering the geographical areas covered by the Annexes. Article 8 provides for the calculation of the allocation of days when a fishing boat is involved in pair trawling. Articles 9 and 10 provide for the adjustment of allocations of days by the Secretary of State. Article 11 contains offences in relation to allocations of days and other restrictions on presence in the Cod Recovery and Sole Recovery Zones. Article 12 provides for transfers of days and article 13 contains an offence of giving false information in a notification made for the purpose of a transfer. Article 14 creates offences in relation to restrictions in both Annexes on the carriage and operation of fishing gears and the combined use of regulated and unregulated gears. Article 15 contains provisions on, and an offence relating to, the maintenance of log-books. Articles 16 to 20 provide for offences in relation to further controls in Annex II on fishing in the Sole Recovery Zone. Part 4 of the Order makes provision for enforcement. Article 22 deals with penalties and article 23 provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court. Articles 24, 25 and 27 confer various powers on British sea-fishery officers including the power to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats and to stop and search vehicles transporting fish. Article 32 makes consequential amendments to the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2005 (S.I 2005/393). A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Annexes and this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Defra, Sea Fisheries Conservation Division, Area 6A, 3 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH.

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