UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 18(1) of The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Lifting Operations and Lifting 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

1 Any contravention of regulations 6 to 12 or, except in the case of a worker regulation 16, shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 18(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 and Fishing Vessels (Lifting Operations and Lifting 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
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
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 lifting operations and the provision and use of lifting equipment on merchant ships and fishing vessels. In doing so they implement in part 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 Merchant Shipping (Hatches and Lifting Plant) Regulations 1988 (S.I. 1988/1639) (“the 1988 Regulations”) 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 exempts fishing vessels and non-commercially managed government ships from those provisions which are derived from the 1988 Regulations, which did not apply to such vessels. It also creates a further minor exemption from regulation 12(5)(b) in relation to such government ships. Finally, regulation 4 places 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 strength of and stability of lifting equipment. Regulation 7 deals with lifting equipment for lifting persons and regulation 8 with the positioning and installation of permanently installed lifting equipment. Regulation 9 requires lifting equipment to be marked with its safe working loads and regulation 10 requires lifting operations to be properly planned and supervised and for the employer to provide a safe system of work in specified circumstances. Regulations 11 and 12 deal with the testing, examination and inspection of lifting equipment and regulations 13 and 14 with certificates and reports in relation to such matters. Regulation 15 requires any certificate or report to be kept safe and information contained in reports and other records to be made available for inspection as specified. Regulation 16 deals with hatch covers used on a ship and requires account to be taken of the principles and guidance in the Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen, which is derived from the 1988 Regulations. Regulation 17 requires workers to comply with any reasonable instructions under regulations 7, 10 or 16, as well as with any system of work provided by their employer in accordance with regulation 10(3)(d). Regulations 18 to 24 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, Marine Guidance Notes and Marine Information Notes 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