UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties for United Kingdom fishing vessels

regulation 9(3) of The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Survey and Certification) 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 Any contravention of regulation

7 is an offence by the fishing vessel owner and by the skipper punishable on summary conviction—

a in England and Wales to

a fine; or

b in Scotland and Northern Ireland by

a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or on conviction on indictment by 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an fishing vessel owner
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 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 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 9(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) (Survey and Certification) 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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
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 Articles 41 to 43 of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2006 (Cm 7375). They apply to United Kingdom fishing vessels wherever they may be and to other fishing vessels in United Kingdom waters. Regulation 4 requires United Kingdom fishing vessels to be surveyed for the purposes of issuing a Work in Fishing Convention Certificate, and regulations 5 and 6 make further provision regarding surveys and the issuing of certificates. Regulation 7 requires the Work in Fishing Convention Certificate to be carried on board a United Kingdom fishing vessels and to be made available, Regulations 8 to 11 make provision for arbitration on the outcome of surveys and the inspection and detention of United Kingdom fishing vessels. Regulation 12 requires fishing vessels which are not United Kingdom fishing vessels to comply with requirements of the Work in Fishing Convention relating to the documents to be carried on board the fishing vessel. Regulations 13 and 14 make provision for the enforcement of these requirements. Regulation 15 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they 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 amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. 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. 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. Hard copies can be obtained by writing to the Seafarer Safety and Health Manager, 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; the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
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