UK Offence Report

Provision against danger to navigation

article 10(2) of The Poole Harbour (Works) Revision Order 2015

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 the Commissioners fail to comply with paragraph (1)(a) or (b), they shall be guilty of an offence and liable— a on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; b 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 person
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 article 10(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 doing what the provision requires under the Poole Harbour (Works) Revision Order 2015, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
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
12 June 2015
In force from
10 July 2015
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 empowers the Poole Harbour Commissioners (“The Commissioners”) as the harbour authority for Poole Harbour to construct and maintain works on and in the bed or foreshore of the harbour (defined in article 2(1)) within the limits of deviation on the deposited plans (so defined) (articles 3 and 4) and confers further powers as to subsidiary works relating to those works (article 5). To the extent that they are not already, the works are to be within the Borough of Poole when they are completed or substantially completed (article 7). The Order also empowers the Commissioners, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining the works, to dredge the bed, shores and channels of the harbour within a specified area (article 8). The Order creates an offence of, without lawful authority, intentionally or recklessly obstructing the carrying out of the works, with a fine on summary conviction not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (article 9). Provision is made against danger to navigation (article 10) and for the abatement of works abandoned or decayed 11). The Secretary of State may order a survey and examination of the authorised works (defined in article 2(1)) or of the site on which they are to be constructed (article 12). Provision is made for the lighting of the authorised works permanently (article 13) and of tidal works (defined in article 14(3)) during construction (article 14). A defence of due diligence is available to the Commissioners in respect of offences under articles 10, 13 and 14 (article 15). A full regulatory impact assessment has not been provided for this instrument as there is no impact on business or charities or the voluntary sector. The deposited plans and sections may be inspected during working hours at the principal office of the Commissioners at 20 New Quay Road, Hamworthy, Poole, Dorset BH15 4AF.

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