UK Offence Report

Crew accommodation

regulation 20(3) of The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018

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

3 A breach of paragraph (2) is an offence by the fishing vessel owner.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an fishing vessel owner
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 an fishing vessel owner 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

0 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it is a defence for the person charged to show that all reasonable steps had been taken by that person to ensure compliance with the provision concerned.

What would breach regulation 20(3)?

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 (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018, 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
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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 15040 — 15040 - Offences concerning fisherman's work agreement (Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018). That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
24 October 2018
In force from
Not determined
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 implement parts of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (Cm 7375) (the “Convention”). They apply to United Kingdom fishing vessels wherever they may be and to fishing vessels in United Kingdom waters. Part 2 implements Article 9 of the Convention (minimum age). The Convention provides that, persons under the age of 16 must not normally work as fishermen, although an exception is provided for persons over 15 years of age who satisfy certain conditions, and, with some exceptions, fishermen under the age of 18 must not work on fishing vessels at night (regulations 6 and 7). Part 3 implements Articles 16 to 20 of the Convention (fishers’ work agreements) and Article 24 (payment of fishermen). Every fisherman is required to have a fisherman’s work agreement with another person in respect of their work on a fishing vessel and the agreement must contain certain specified provisions (regulations 8 and 9 and the Schedule) and provide for the payment of wages or other remuneration at regular intervals (regulation 12). Fishermen are entitled to receive an account of the wages or other remuneration due to them, at intervals not exceeding one month (regulation 13) Part 4 implements Article 21 of the Convention (repatriation). In the cases specified, a fishing vessel owner must make provision for the repatriation of a fisherman (regulations 14 to 16) and the fishing vessel owner is required to make provision for that fisherman’s relief and maintenance pending repatriation. A fisherman must not be required to pay towards the costs of such repatriation or relief and maintenance, other than in cases of serious misconduct (regulation 18). Where a fishing vessel owner fails to make provision for the repatriation of fishermen, or for their relief and maintenance pending repatriation, the Secretary of State is required to make such provision in the case of United Kingdom ships (and may do so in relation to non-United Kingdom ships) (regulation 19). Part 5 implements Articles 25 to 28 of the Convention (accommodation and food). Fishing vessels are required to comply with the requirements relating to crew accommodation set out in Merchant Shipping Notices 1871, 1872 or 1873 and there are related inspection requirements (regulation 20). Provision is made to allow the Secretary of State to exempt ships from certain requirements in those Notices (regulation 21). Provision is made in relation to the quantity and quality of food and drinking water provided for fishermen on board a ship and such food and water must be provided free of charge (regulation 22). Provision is made in relation to the storage and handling of food and drinking water provided for fishermen and the organisation and equipment of catering departments on board ships, with related inspection requirements (regulations 23 and 24). A fisherman may lodge a complaint with the Secretary of State alleging that the provisions of the Convention are not being complied and must not suffer any detriment for doing so (regulation 25). Part 6 implements Articles 29 and 30 of the Convention (medical care). A fisherman who is sick or injured is entitled to medical care on board ship and ashore. Part 7, which applies to all ships within the scope of these Regulations, requires a contract of insurance or other security, adequate to ensure that the fishing vessel owner will be able to meet its liabilities under these Regulations to provide compensation in the event of death or long term disability to fishermen arising from occupational injury, illness or hazard. Part 8 confers powers to allow the inspection of fishing vessels. Part 9 provides for criminal penalties to be attached to many of the requirements in the Regulations and provides a “reasonable steps” defence for all offences. Part 10 revokes the Merchant Shipping (Provisions and Water) Regulations 1989 (S.I.1989/102) which are replaced by provision made under these Regulations. Part 11 contains a provision requiring the Secretary of State to review the Regulations and to publish a report of that review within five years of their coming 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 relevant provisions or to amend them. The Schedule sets out the provisions that must be included in a fisherman’s work agreement. These Regulations are made under sections 85(1)(a) and (b), (3) and (5) to (7) and 86(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 except in so far as (a) they relate to parts of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 which do not concern the health or safety of persons on ships and (b) they relate to government ships. Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 is used to ensure that all parts of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 are covered by these Regulations. Merchant Shipping Notices are published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (“the MCA”) (an executive agency of the Department for Transport). Copies may be obtained from M-Notices Subscriptions, PO Box 362, Europa Park, Grays, Essex RM17 9AY, email: mnotices@ecgroup.co.uk. They may also be accessed via the MCA’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency, which also has details of any amendments or replacements. The Maritime Labour Convention may be downloaded from the website of the International Labour Organisation at https://www.ilo.org. Printed copies may be inspected at The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

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 0.88.

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