UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 2017

the instrument as a whole of The Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 2017

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 2017.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
8 March 2017
In force from
6 April 2017
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 revoke and replace the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 1984 (S.I. 1984/1890) (“the 1984 Regulations”). These Regulations and new Guidance implement the UK obligations under the International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972, as amended by resolutions MSC.310 (88) and resolution MSC.355(92) (“the Convention”). The Regulations update and modernise the freight containers safety approvals regime established by the 1984 Regulations. The Regulations set out the new container marking requirements and align physical dimensions and units to the international system of units, the globally recognised SI system. The Regulations apply to containers which have top corner fittings and a bottom area of at least 7 square metres or, if they do not have top corner fittings, a bottom area of at least 14 square metres. These Regulations require owners and lessees and others in control of freight containers used at work or supplied for use at work to comply with conditions of use, in accordance with the Convention. Regulations 4 and 5 impose a condition that a container must have a valid approval issued by the Health and Safety Executive (“the Executive”) or by a person or an organisation which it has appointed for that purpose, or by or under the authority of a foreign Government which has acceded to the Convention. Guidance on the arrangements for the approval of containers in Great Britain is set out in a document entitled “Approval of Freight Containers – Arrangements in Great Britain (The Green Guide)” obtainable from the Health and Safety Executive, Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Merseyside, L20 7HS and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside these Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk. Regulation 4 prohibits the use of containers unless the conditions set out in that regulation are met. All containers must display a valid safety approval plate as described in regulation 6. The detailed requirements about content and form of the safety approval plate are set out in the Schedule. Under regulation 4, containers must be properly maintained and meet the examination requirements set out in regulation 8. For examination requirements to be met, periodic examination schemes or continuous examination programmes must be approved by the Executive. Guidance entitled “Freight Container Examination Schemes or Programmes – Conditions for Approval (The Yellow Guide)” is obtainable from the Executive. Under these Regulations it is a defence to criminal proceedings if responsibility for maintenance and examination has passed to another person under express terms set out in a lease, sublease or bailment (regulation 4). Regulation 7 provides transitional arrangements for containers constructed before 1st July 2014. Safety approval plates that complied with the 1984 Regulations prior to 1st July 2014 may be retained until any structural modifications are made to that container. Regulation 9 requires containers with limited stacking or racking capacity to be marked under British Standard, Freight Containers – Coding, identification and marking BS EN ISO 6346: 1995. This standard is published by British Standards Limited 2013, ISBN 978 0 580 80120 4 and is available from www.bsigroup.com/shop or telephone +44 (0)20 8996 9001 or fax: +44 (0)20 8996 7001. Copies can also be obtained from the British Standards institute at Davy Avenue, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK5 8PP. Regulation 10 revokes the 1984 Regulations. Regulation 11 introduces a provision which requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of the Regulations and publish a report by 6th April 2022, which is five years after the date on which these Regulations 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. The Schedule provides that the safety approval plate must be in the form prescribed in Figure 1 which will be reproduced in the published printed copy of these Regulations. Figure 1 may not be reproduced in online or electronic formats. The Schedule paragraphs describe the safety approval plate specifications including that the plate must be made out of non-corroding material and how and where on the container it should be displayed. Paragraph 2 describes the dimensions and information that must be included on the safety approval plate. Paragraph 3 of the Schedule defines technical provisions relevant to the Schedule. A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations would have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Executive. The Regulations and the two sets of guidance were notified in draft (Notification No.2016/0616/UK, Notification No. 2016/0617/UK and Notification No. 2016/0618/UK) on 28th November 2016) to the European Commission in accordance with 2015/1535/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2015 O.J. L241/1).

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 0.59.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.59 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