UK Offence Report

Offences as to moorings

article 16 of The Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour Revision Order 2011

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

16 Any person who—

a intentionally obstructs any person acting under the authority of the Commissioners in setting out moorings;

b intentionally and without lawful authority pulls up or removes any moorings or any part of any moorings;

c places, lays down, maintains, renews or has in the harbour any mooring not provided by the Commissioners under article

14 or licensed by the Commissioners under article 15;

d without reasonable excuse causes or permits

a vessel to be moored in the harbour except at

a mooring so provided or licensed by the Commissioners, or at

a quay, jetty or other apparatus provided for the mooring of vessels;

e without reasonable excuse causes or permits

a vessel to be moored at

a mooring provided by the Commissioners under article

14 or licensed by the Commissioners under article

15 which the person is not entitled to use; or

f contravenes the terms or conditions of any licence granted under article

14 or article 15, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

cle 14 or licensed by the Commissioners under article 15; d without reasonable excuse causes or permits a vessel to be moored in the harbour except at a mooring so provided or licensed by the Commissioners, or at a quay, jetty or other apparatus provided for the mooring of vessels; e without reasonable excuse causes or permits a vessel to be m

What would breach article 16?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour Revision Order 2011.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
26 May 2011
In force from
30 June 2011
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order confers additional powers on the Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour Commissioners for the management and regulation of Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour, amends the provisions governing the appointment of Commissioners and makes other provisions. The Order effects related repeals and amendments to enactments relating to the Harbour. Articles 4 to 9 of the Order confer powers to make general and special directions. Article 4 confers powers on the Harbour Commissioners to give general directions in respect of the harbour for any purpose set out in Schedule 3 and article 5and Schedule 4 regulate the procedures for making such directions, as well as for making designations of parts of the harbour under article 18. Article 6 empowers the harbourmaster to give special directions as to the use of the harbour and other matters relating to it. Article 7 establishes an offence for failing to comply with a general or special direction and article 8 confers powers on the harbourmaster in the event of failure to comply with a special direction. Article 9 provides that the giving of a direction does not affect the existing responsibilities of a vessel’s master. Articles 10 to 13 concern harbour and taxi water services. Article 10 prohibits the provision of such services without a licence issued by the Commissioners under article 11. Article 12 regulates the conditions attaching to licences, their term, the application procedure and the charging of fees. Article 13 provides for appeals against decisions of the Commissioners. Articles 14 to 17 concern moorings. Articles 14 and 15 provide for the provision and licensing of moorings by the Commissioners, article 16 creates offences with respect to moorings and article 17 provides for enforcement action by the Commissioners. Article 18 permits the Commissioners to designate parts of the harbour for particular uses and provides for the enforcement of designations. Article 19 provides for the licensing by the Commissioners of the use of fuel bowsers in the harbour area. The miscellaneous and general provisions in Part 3 of the Order relate to the provision of embarkation information for the determination of landing charges (article 20), the boarding of vessels by authorised officers for the purposes of enforcement and other provisions or to deal with fire (article 21), the obstruction etc. of officers (article 22) and the service and execution of documents (articles 23 and 24). In addition, article 25 protects the rights conferred on certain land owners by the Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Pier and Harbour Order 1931, article 26 regulates the bringing and conduct of appeals under articles 13 and 15(9), articles 27 and 28 protect, respectively, rights of the Crown and of Trinity House, article 29 and Schedule 5 amend the Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) Harbour Revision (Constitution) Order 2001 in particular to introduce new provisions concerning the appointment and terms of office of Harbour Commissioners and article 30 and Schedule 6 make a number of repeal, revocation and saving provisions. A full regulatory assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

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