UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 35(3) of The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Provision and Use of Work Equipment) Regulations 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

3 Any contravention of regulations 23 or 24 shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 35(3)?

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 and Fishing Vessels (Provision and Use of Work Equipment) Regulations 2006, 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
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
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
8 August 2006
In force from
24 November 2006
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 impose health and safety requirements with respect to the provision and use of work equipment on merchant ships and fishing vessels. In doing so they implement in respect of these vessels Council Directive 89/655/EEC (O.J. L393, 30.12.89, p.13) as amended by Council Directive 95/63/EC (O.J. L335, 30.12.95, p.28) concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC). In addition, for purposes of consolidation and simplification, the Regulations revoke and replace the following: The Merchant Shipping (Guarding of Machinery and Safety of Electrical Equipment) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988/1636) in their entirety; regulation 10 of the Merchant Shipping (Safe Movement on Board Ships) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988/1641); and regulation 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety at Work) (Non-UK Ships) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988/2274), all of which gave effect in part to the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention 1976 (International Labour Organization Convention 147) (Cmnd. 7183). The terms used in the Regulations are defined in regulations 2 and 3 and the circumstances in which the Regulations apply are set out in regulation 4. This regulation creates a minor exemption from regulation 8(5)(b) in relation to non-commercially managed government ships, as well as placing certain duties (not required by the Directives) upon self-employed persons. Regulation 5 extends the duties imposed by these Regulations to any person having control of a matter, e.g. by reason of having responsibility for operation of the ship. Regulation 6 imposes requirements as to the suitability of work equipment. Regulation 7 requires work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state and in good repair. Regulation 8 deals with the inspection of work equipment where its safety depends on the installation conditions and regulation 9 deals with the use of work equipment which involves a specific risk to health or safety. Regulations 10 and 11 make provision for information and instructions and training in the use of work equipment. Work equipment must be designed and constructed in accordance with specified requirements (regulation 12). Provision is made for dangerous parts of ship’s work equipment to have guards or protection devices (regulation 13) and for protection against electrical hazards (regulation 14). Workers must be protected against specified hazards (regulation 15) and from injury as a consequence of high or very low temperatures (regulation 16). Regulations 17 to 21 make provision for controls in relation to mobile work equipment. The Regulations also make provision for:- isolation of work equipment from sources of energy (regulation 22); stability of work equipment (regulation 23); lighting (regulation 24); maintenance operations (regulation 25); markings (regulation 26); and warnings (regulation 27). Regulations 28 to 33 make provision in relation to mobile work equipment. Regulation 34 requires workers to comply with any instruction or training provided under the Regulations. Regulations 35 to 41 concern penalties, offences, inspections and detentions as well as compensation. These Regulations are made under the powers in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 except in respect of their application to Government ships where the power is provided by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. A Regulatory Impact Assessment and a Transposition Note have been prepared and a copy of each has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG (telephone number 02380 329100). Merchant Shipping Notices can 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). They may also be accessed via the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s website http://www.mcga.gov.uk. International Labour Organization Conventions are published by the International Labour Office and copies may be obtained from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland.

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