UK Offence Report

Provision against danger to navigation

article 11(2) of The Hinkley Point Harbour Empowerment Order 2012

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

2 Subject to article 33 (defence of due diligence), if the Company fails to notify Trinity House or the Bridgwater Harbour Authority as required by paragraph (1) or to comply in any respect with a direction given under that paragraph, it shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum and on conviction on indictment to 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 company
Conduct
failing to notify or register
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 company 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 article 11(2)?

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. Not telling the authority about an event the instrument makes notifiable under the Hinkley Point Harbour Empowerment Order 2012, or telling them after the period allowed has run out.
  2. Assuming a notification made for another purpose, or by somebody else, satisfies this requirement.

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 July 2012
In force from
16 August 2012
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 comes into force on 16th August 2012 and on a date (“the termination date”) to be determined under article 1(3) it ceases to have effect (article 1(2)). This Order enables NNB Generation Company Limited (“the Company”) to carry out works for the construction, maintenance and use in Bridgwater Bay and on adjacent land in the district of West Somerset, of a harbour comprising a jetty (defined in article 2(1)) and harbour-related works to facilitate the construction of a nuclear generating station at Hinkley Point in that district. The construction of the works (defined in article 2(1)) and the planning permission for the works conferred by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/418) are subject to the conditions in Schedule 1 (planning and works conditions) (article 18). Time limits are imposed for the construction, maintenance and use of the works and any existing powers conferred in that respect still existing will cease to have effect on a date to be determined under article 39 (closure of the jetty and reinstatement) (article 15); the planning consent under the 1995 Order is also subject to time limits and will also cease to have effect on that date save in respect of the dismantling, demolition and removal of the jetty and related works and the reinstatement of the site of the works in accordance with that article (article 17). The Order authorises the Company to stop up footpaths and extinguish all rights of way over them (articles 19 and 20), requires it to provide substituted public rights of way (article 19) except in respect of the footpath specified in article 20 and provides for compensation (articles 19 and 20). As required by section 16(7A) of the Harbours Act 1964 (c.40) (inserted by the Transport and Works Act 1992 (c.42), Schedule 3, paragraph 2(5)) these footpaths and new public rights of way are shown on the footpaths maps in Schedule 3. The Company is to be the statutory harbour authority for the harbour, the limits of which are defined by the Order (article 21). The Company may make byelaws for the efficient management and regulation of the harbour (article 22). The Company may, for the purposes of the harbour, lease, or grant the use or occupation of, land, works, buildings, equipment or other property forming part of the harbour (article 31). Copies of the environmental statement furnished by the applicant for this Order pursuant to paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 to the Harbours Act 1964 and the deposited plans and sections may be inspected, free of charge, at the offices of the Company at 14 King Square, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3DG between 10:00 and 16:30 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays). A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on business or 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