UK Offence Report

3 A fuel oil supplier’s representative who makes a false declaration in a bunker delivery note is guilty of…

regulation 32(3) of The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2008

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 A fuel oil supplier’s representative who makes a false declaration in a bunker delivery note is guilty of an offence and punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment by a fine.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 fuel oil supplier
Conduct
making a false or misleading statement
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 fuel oil supplier 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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

The defence, as drafted

In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, it is a defence for the person charged to prove that person took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to ensure that the regulation in question was complied with. 2 Without prejudice to paragraph (1), in any proceedings for an offence under regulation 22(4) or 23(1) or (2) it is a defence f

What would breach regulation 32(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. On these words an offence is committed where a fuel oil supplier makes a false declaration in a bunker delivery note.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2008.
  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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'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
12 November 2008
In force from
8 December 2008
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 Annex VI (Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (“the MARPOL Convention”). Annex VI came into force internationally on 19th May 2005. Detailed technical requirements are imposed by reference to Merchant Shipping Notices 1776 (M), 1734 (M+F), 1735 (M+F), 1613 and 1819 (M+F). Part 2 of the Regulations provides for the survey and certification of ships; The main provisions of Part 3— control emissions of ozone-depleting substances, nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide (regulations 20 to 22); where appropriate, regulate harbours or terminals operating vapour emission control systems for volatile compounds (regulation 23); control shipboard incineration (regulation 24); impose requirements in respect of fuel oil quality (regulation 25). Part 4 of the Regulations makes provision in relation to powers of inspection and detention of ships. Provision is also made for jurisdiction over offences committed outside United Kingdom waters (regulation 35) and for suspension of proceedings at flag state request (regulation 36). A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and copies may be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (“MCA”), Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website www.opsi.gov.uk. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Merchant Shipping Notices and Marine Guidance Notes are published by the MCA. Copies may be obtained from Mail Marketing (Scotland), MCA, P O Box 87, Glasgow G14 0JF (telephone number 0141 300 4906; fax 0141 950 2726; e-mail orders mca@promo-solution.com). They may also be accessed via the MCA’s website http:/www.mcga.gov.uk, which also has details of any amendments or replacements. The STCW Convention, the MARPOL Convention, its Protocols and amendments and resolutions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee and the Tonnage Convention can be obtained from the International Maritime Organization, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. Copies of the British Standards publications referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from any outlet operated by the British Standards Institution or by post from the British Standards Institution at Standards House, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is available from the United Nations Environment Programme P O Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya (www.unep.org/ozone).

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”; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
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