UK Offence Report

5 A carrier, tour operator or travel agent who contravenes an obligation imposed by Article 7 or 8(2), (3),…

regulation 3(5) of The Merchant Shipping (Passengers’ Rights) 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

5 A carrier, tour operator or travel agent who contravenes an obligation imposed by Article

7 or 8(2), (3), (4) or (5) is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 carrier
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 carrier 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 3(5)?

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 carrier contravenes an obligation imposed by Article 7 or 8(2), (3), (4) or (5).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Passengers’ Rights) Regulations 2013, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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 February 2013
In force from
27 March 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 provide for the enforcement of the rights and entitlements set out in Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L. 334, 17.12.2010, p1) (“the EU Regulation”) which concerns the rights of passengers, particularly those with a disability or reduced mobility, when travelling by sea and inland waterway. Regulation 3 provides offences for failure to comply with various obligations set out in the EU Regulation. These obligations fall, respectively, on sea and inland waterway carriers, ticket vendors, port authorities, terminal operators, tour operators, and travel agents, and the penalties provided by regulation 4 vary from fines not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale on summary conviction to an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. Regulation 5 provides that, where a person on whom an obligation is imposed, arranges for another person to carry out that obligation on their behalf, both parties commit an offence if it is contravened. Regulation 6 provides that it will be a defence for a person to demonstrate that all reasonable steps were taken to ensure compliance with the EU Regulation. Regulation 7 provides that members and officers of corporate bodies, partnerships and unincorporated associations who have contributed to a failure to comply with the EU Regulation are also be liable to prosecution. Regulation 8 designates the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as the body responsible for the enforcement of the EU Regulation, and gives it the right to ask for information to assist it in carrying out its functions: it is an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale on summary conviction, or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment, to fail to provide it with such information without reasonable excuse. Regulation 9 enables persons who have suffered an infringement of their rights under the EU Regulation to seek compensation separately from any penal sanction that may be imposed. A claim for compensation must be brought within six months of the infringement complained of unless the court considers it is just and equitable to consider a claim that is out of time. Regulation 10 provides that certain transitory provisions relating to the commencement of the Equality Act 2010 do not apply to the extent that the EU Regulation governs a particular case. Regulation 11 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 be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business has been produced and a copy placed in the library of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR. Alternatively, copies can be obtained from the Department for Transport’s website, which is at www.gov.uk. It is also published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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”
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