UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 26(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 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

1 If a ship to which these Regulations apply proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea or on a voyage or excursion without complying with the requirements of regulations 6 to 9, the owner and master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
a master
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 master 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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

nt for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both. 6 It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under these Regulations to prove that he took all reasonable steps to ensure that the Regulations were complied with.

What would breach regulation 26(1)?

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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2015.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
2 March 2015
In force from
6 April 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 Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make provision for the inspections and surveys to be carried out on United Kingdom ships wherever they may be, and also on other ships while in United Kingdom waters. They revoke the Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 1995 and various instruments amending them, and re-enact the requirements for the survey and certification of passenger ships and cargo ships contained in the 1995 Regulations as amended. The Regulations give effect to the requirement as to surveys and the issue of certificates contained in the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 1974, as amended, and also contain similar requirements for ships not subject to the Convention. Other than the changes resulting from the consolidation of these requirements into a single set of regulations, and updating, the main changes from the previous provisions relate to the definition of “Certifying Authority” in regulation 4, which now provides for this to mean the Secretary of State or any person authorised by the Secretary of State (rather than the list of named bodies contained in the 1995 Regulations), for authorisation to be given subject to conditions, and for the Secretary of State to direct that surveys be carried out by Secretary of State and not by another Certifying Authority. Regulation 4 also provides that a Certifying Authority other than the Secretary of State is not to be regarded as a servant or agent of the Crown, and that its property is not to be regarded as Crown property. Regulation 5 lists the types of ship to which the Regulations apply, and provides for the Secretary of State to issue, and to alter or cancel, exemptions from the requirements. Regulations 6-9 specify the various inspections and surveys required, and regulation 10 imposes general obligations on owners and masters to ensure that a ship is fit to proceed to sea. The detailed requirements of the various inspections and surveys continue to be contained in Merchant Shipping Notices issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport (regulation 11). Regulation 12 sets out the procedure to be followed when a ship is deficient, and regulations 13-17 deal with issue, duration, and extension of certificates. Regulations 18-20 provide for certification of United Kingdom ships by other SOLAS Convention states, and the converse, and regulation 21 for cancellation of certificates. Certificates issued in accordance with the requirements of the SOLAS Convention must be available for inspection on board ships, and United Kingdom ships must not proceed to sea on an international voyage without these and other relevant certificates (regulations 22 and 23). Passenger ships of specified Classes are also prohibited from proceeding on any voyage or excursion without the applicable certificates (regulation 24). Regulation 25 requires owners and masters to ensure that the limit on passenger numbers is not exceeded. Regulation 26 provides for penalties for breaches of provisions of the Regulations, and regulation 27 for detention of ships which do not comply. Regulation 28 provides for arbitration if a person is dissatisfied with the outcome of a survey. The Regulations also contain a requirement for the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of them and publish a report within five years after they come into force and every five years after that (regulation 29). Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should continue in force with or without amendment. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations. 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. Merchant Shipping Notices are obtainable from the Marine Information Centre, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO15 1EG. The SOLAS Convention, its Protocol and amendments are obtainable from the International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.

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