UK Offence Report

4 Any contravention of— a regulation 5(2) or (3), 6(2), or 9(1) or (2) is an offence by the owner and the…

regulation 14(4) of The Merchant Shipping (Anti-Fouling Systems) Regulations 2009 (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

4 Any contravention of—

a regulation 5(2) or (3), 6(2), or 9(1) or (2) is an offence by the owner and the master of the ship;

b regulation 8(4) is an offence by the person in question.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, with intent to) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: the offence itself carries no fault word, but a duty it criminalises by cross-reference uses knowingly, intentionally, recklessly, with intent to; which element that governs was not determined.

What would breach regulation 14(4)?

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 (Anti-Fouling Systems) Regulations 2009, 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
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
19 October 2009
In force from
1 December 2009
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.

In so far as it is necessary to do so, these Regulations give effect in the United Kingdom to Regulation (EC) No 782/2003 (O.J. No. L 115, 9.5.2003, p.1) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14th April 2003 on the prohibition of organotin compounds on ships (“the EC Regulation”), as amended. The Regulations make supplementary provision in relation to Annex I of the EC Regulation (which concerns survey and certification of ships for anti-fouling purposes) (Part 2). In particular, they prohibit certain ships from proceeding on a voyage without the anti-fouling certificates or other documentation specified in the Regulations. The Regulations make provision in relation to inspection and detention of UK ships and other ships, for non-compliance with anti-fouling requirements (Part 3). The Regulations also provide for the creation of offences and penalties where organotin compounds which act as biocides are applied or re-applied, or where a ship bears such compounds without also bearing a coating to act as a barrier to prevent leaching. They also provide for the creation of offences and penalties relating to certificates and declarations (regulation 14). Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 is relied upon as the enabling power for these Regulations, since the powers in existing merchant shipping legislation are insufficiently wide to cover all the matters requiring to be dealt with in connection with the EC Regulation. An Impact Assessment has been prepared and copies may be obtained from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (“the MCA”), Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG. A copy has also been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. The Impact Assessment is also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside these Regulations on the OPSI website www.opsi.gov.uk. The MCA is issuing a Marine Guidance Note in relation to these Regulations, and copies of that Note and of Merchant Shipping Notice No. M. 1613 (referred to in regulation 7) may be obtained from M-Notices Subscriptions, PO Box 362, Europa Park, Grays, Essex RM17 9AY (telephone number 01375 484548; fax 01375 484556; e-mail orders mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk). Copies may also be accessed via the MCA’s website http://www.mcga.gov.uk. Copies of the AFS-Convention may be obtained from the International Maritime Organization at 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.

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
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