UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties for United Kingdom ships

regulation 15(2) of The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2013

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 If a ship to which regulation 5(3) applies, and in respect of which a certifying authority has issued a Maritime Labour Certificate, proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea or on a voyage or excursion without the Maritime Labour Certificate having been endorsed in the manner required by Merchant Shipping Notice 1848(M), the shipowner and the master of the ship are guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an certifying authority
Conduct
acting without the licence or authorisation required
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 an certifying authority 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 15(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. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2013.
  2. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  3. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
24 July 2013
In force from
15 August 2013
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 Regulation 5.1 of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (Cmd. 7049). They apply to sea-going United Kingdom ships wherever they may be and to other sea-going ships in United Kingdom waters. Regulation 3 amends the Merchant Shipping (Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport and Pleasure) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2771) and the Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1609) so as to insert a reference to these Regulations which has the effect of disapplying the requirements of these Regulations as regards ships which comply with certain Codes of Practice. Regulation 5 requires United Kingdom ships over 500 gross tonnage to be surveyed for the purposes of issuing a Maritime Labour Certificate, and regulations 6 to 11 make further provision regarding surveys and the issuing of certificates. Regulation 12 requires certain documents to be carried on board a United Kingdom ship and to be made available, and regulation 13 requires on-board and on-shore complaint procedures to be available to seafarers on the ship. Regulations 14 to 17 make provision for arbitration on the outcome of surveys and for the enforcement of the preceding regulations as regards United Kingdom ships. Regulation 18(1) requires ships which are not United Kingdom ships to comply with requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention relating to the documents to be carried on board the ship and on-board and on-shore complaints procedures. Regulation 18(2) and (3), 19 and 20 make provision for the enforcement of these requirements. Regulation 21 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. The Regulations are made under sections 85(1)(a) and (b), (3) and (5) to (7) and 86(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 except in so far as (a) they relate to parts of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 which do not concern the health or safety of persons on ships and (b) they relate to government ships. Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 is used to (a) ensure that all parts of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 are covered by these Regulations and (b) to extend the application of the Regulations to government ships. Merchant Shipping Notices are published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Copies may be obtained from M-Notices Subscriptions, PO Box 362, Europa Park, Grays Essex RM17 9AY, tel 01375 484548, fax 01375 484556, email mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk. They may also be accessed via the MCA’s website www.dft.gov.uk/mca, which also has details of any amendments or replacements. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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