UK Offence Report

Charges and exchange rates

regulation 7(4) of The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Consequential and Minor Amendments) Regulations 2014

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 A breach of this regulation is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 person
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 person 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 7(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 (Maritime Labour Convention) (Consequential and Minor Amendments) Regulations 2014, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£500
Standard scale
Level 2
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
9 July 2014
In force from
7 August 2014
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 make consequential and other minor amendments to primary and secondary legislation arising out of the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (“the Convention”). Regulation 2(2) amends the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 so as to provide that certain provisions will in future apply to a more limited class of ships. The ships to which those provisions will thereby cease to be apply are subject to provisions on the same subject matter in the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1613) (“the 2014 Regulations”) which are compatible with the Convention. The remainder of regulation 2 and regulation 3 make consequential amendments to the 1995 Act and the Employment Rights Act 1996 arising from the provision made in the 2014 Regulations. Regulation 4 extends the application of the Merchant Shipping (Seaman’s Allotments) Regulations 1972 to extend the right to make allotments to cover additional seafarers and additional forms of remuneration, and to adjust the nature of the right in certain respects, so as to make it compatible with the Convention. Regulation 5 amends the Merchant Shipping (Seaman’s Wages and Accounts) Regulations 1972 so as to (a) remove certain provisions which are superseded by provisions in the 2014 Regulations, and (b) to make consequential amendments arising from the provision made in the 2014 Regulations. Regulation 6 amends the Merchant Shipping (Repatriation) Regulations 1979 so as to (a) remove a provision which is superseded by a provision made in the 2014 Regulations, and (b) disapply the remaining regulations for ships to which the 2014 Regulations apply (as the 2014 Regulations contain different provision on the same subject matter which is compatible with the Convention). Regulation 7 amends the Merchant Shipping (Provisions and Water) Regulations 1989 so as to (a) remove provisions as regards merchant shipping which are superseded by provisions in the 2014 Regulations, and (b) amend certain provisions which remain so that they are compatible with the Convention. Regulation 8 amends the Merchant Shipping (Crew Agreements, Lists of Crew and Discharge of Seamen) Regulations 1991 so as to (a) disapply Part 1 for ships to which the 2014 Regulations apply (as the 2014 Regulations introduce a requirement for seafarer employment agreements instead of crew agreements), (b) amend certain provisions which remain so that they are compatible with the Convention and (c) correct errors in certain cross-references in regulation 26. Regulation 9 corrects an amendment to the Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 made by the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Hours of Work) (Amendment) Regulations 2014. Regulation 10 amends the Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1997 so as to provide that those Regulations do not apply to ships to which the 2014 Regulations apply. Regulation 11 makes consequential amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure) Regulations 1998 arising from the provision made in the 2014 Regulations, and updates the definitions of “EEA Agreement” and “EEA State”. Regulation 12 amends the Merchant Shipping (Hours of Work) Regulations 2002 so as to remove provisions which are superseded by provisions in the 2014 Regulations and correct errors in certain cross-references in regulation 14A. Regulations 13 and 14 contain corrections to the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2010 and the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2013. Regulation 14 also amends the definitions of “medical practitioner”, “seafarer” and “sea-going” so as to maintain consistency with the terms used in the 2014 Regulations. Regulation 15 revokes the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Ships’ Cooks) Regulations 1981 and Merchant Shipping (Ships’ Doctors) Regulations 1995 so as to remove provisions which are superseded by provisions in the 2014 Regulations. Regulation 16 contains a saving provision in respect of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety) (Employment of Young Persons) Regulations 1998. Merchant Shipping Notices and Marine Guidance Notes are published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Copies may be downloaded from the MCA’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency or by e-subscription from mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk with ‘Subscribe’ in the subject heading, or obtained from M-Notices Subscriptions, PO Box 362, Europa Park, Grays Essex RM17 9AY, tel 01375 484548, fax 01375 484556. The Convention may be downloaded from the website of the International Labour Organisation (“ILO”) at www.ilo.org/global/standards/maritime-labour-convention/lang--en/index.htm. Copies of the Convention may be obtained from www.tsoshop.co.uk, by e-mail from customer.services@tso.co.uk or by post from TSO, P.O. Box 29, Norwich, NR3 IGN, Tel: +44 (0)870 600 5522/Fax: +44 (0)870 600 5533, as a priced publication. An Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument specifically. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument and the 2014 Regulations will collectively have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the 2014 Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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