UK Offence Report

13 It is an offence to— a intentionally alter a certificate referred to in these Regulations; b falsely make…

regulation 26(13) of The Merchant Shipping (International Load Line Convention) (Amendment) 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

13 It is an offence to—

a intentionally alter

a certificate referred to in these Regulations;

b falsely make

a certificate referred to in these Regulations;

c in connection with any survey required by these Regulations knowingly or recklessly furnish false information;

d with intent to deceive, use, lend, or allow to be used by another,

a certificate referred to in these Regulations;

e fail to surrender as directed

a certificate required to be surrendered under regulation 21(5); or

f in Scotland forge any certificate referred to in these Regulations.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally, knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly, with intent to).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 26(13)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Merchant Shipping (International Load Line Convention) (Amendment) Regulations 2018.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
6 months

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
8 February 2018
In force from
9 March 2018
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 the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, as modified by the Protocol of 1988 relating to the Convention. The Regulations also implement all amendments to the Convention and Protocol as at the date of this statutory instrument. All future amendments to Annexes I, II and III to the Convention will be automatically incorporated into the Regulations by way of ambulatory reference (regulation 5). The Regulations apply the provisions of the Convention, with certain limited exceptions, to United Kingdom ships and to non-United Kingdom ships in United Kingdom waters meeting the size or weight criteria in the Convention, including ships from countries which are not parties to the Convention, and which are engaged on international voyages. The Convention regulates technical detail in relation to the loading, stability and watertight integrity of ships, and includes provision for the survey, certification and inspection of ships for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with the Convention. Load lines marked on a ship indicate the maximum safe loading of a ship in specific conditions. The Regulations amend the Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2241), which continue to apply (with certain limited exceptions) to United Kingdom ships and non-United Kingdom ships in United Kingdom waters engaged on international voyages but to which the Convention does not apply, as well as to United Kingdom ships and non-United Kingdom ships in United Kingdom waters on domestic voyages. Under regulation 3, the Secretary of State may authorise persons to act as Assigning Authorities for the purposes of the Regulations. Regulation 23 sets out the scope of the control exercisable by the Secretary of State in relation to non-United Kingdom ships in United Kingdom ports. Such control is exercised in practice by way of the port State control regime. Regulation 30 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report before 9th March 2023 and at intervals not exceeding 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 amended or revoked. A further instrument would be needed to amend or to revoke the Regulations. Marine Guidance Note (MGN 579(M)) provides detailed explanation as to how the Regulations work in practice. MGN 579(M) is available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG and on https://www.gov.uk. The International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 and the Protocol of 1988 may be obtained in copy from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR and are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treaties database ( http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treaty.htm). The text of the Resolutions amending the Convention and Protocol may be obtained from the IMO or found in Marine Information Note 560(M), or on the FCO treaties database (http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treaty.htm). Future amendments to the Convention and to the Protocol may be obtained in copy from the IMO and, after coming into force in the United Kingdom, found on http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treaty.htm. Until such publication is made on http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treaty.htm, an amendment will be available from the MCA and on https://www.gov.uk. An amendment will be publicised in advance of its in force date by means of a Parliamentary Statement to both Houses of Parliament and by way of a Marine Guidance Note, which will be available in copy from the MCA and on https://www.gov.uk. An impact assessment of the effect of this instrument has been produced and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 →

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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