UK Offence Report

Meaning of “act of unlawful interference” and “victim”

regulation 3(1) of The Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) 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

1 For the purposes of paragraph

2 of Article

12 of Regulation 996/2010, “an act of unlawful interference” means any act which constitutes an offence under—

a subsection (1) of section 1 (hijacking) of the Aviation Security Act 1982 (“the 1982 Act”), but as if subsection (2) of that section (and the reference to subsection (2) in subsection (1)) was omitted;

b subsection (1) or (2) of section 2 (destroying, damaging or endangering safety of aircraft) of the 1982 Act, but as if subsection (4) of that section (and the references to subsection (4) in subsections (1) and (2)) was omitted; or

c subsection (1) or (3) of section 3 (other acts endangering or likely to endanger safety of aircraft) of the 1982 Act, but as if subsections (5) and (6) of that section (and the references to subsections (5) and (6) in subsection (1) and the reference to subsection (5) in subsection (3)) were omitted.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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.

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 3(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 Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2018.

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

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
5 March 2018
In force from
9 April 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 revoke and replace (see regulation 5) the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/2798) and the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Military Air Accidents at Civil Aerodromes) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/2693). They make consequential amendments to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1471) (“RIDDOR”) in order to ensure that injuries arising from air accidents which are required to be notified to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch continue to be excluded from the relevant notification and reporting requirements in RIDDOR. In part, these Regulations supplement Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20th October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation (OJ No L 295, 12.11.10, p35) (“Regulation 996/2010”), as amended by Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 (OJ No L 122, 24.4.14, p18). The following provisions do not supplement Community obligations: regulations 11, 15, 16 and 18. Regulations 11 and 18 implement requirements in Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention (signed on behalf of the United Kingdom Government on 7th December 1944 at the International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago). In regulation 2, “Annex 13” is defined as meaning that Annex as it has effect from time to time. Regulations 15 and 16 are purely domestic provisions. Regulation 3 defines (a) “an act of unlawful interference”, for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 12 of Regulation 996/2010 (which requires the investigator-in-charge to inform the competent authorities when it becomes known or is suspected that such an act was involved in an accident or serious incident), and (b) “victim” (of an accident), for the purposes of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 15 of that Regulation (provision of information by the investigation authority to victims and their relatives prior to publication). Regulation 7 provides that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (“the AAIB”) (part of the Department for Tranport) continues to be designated as the safety investigation authority for the United Kingdom, for the purposes of Article 4 of Regulation 996/2010, and the accident investigation authority for the purposes of Annex 13. Regulation 8 provides that the sole objective of a safety investigation is the prevention of accidents and incidents, without the apportionment of blame or liability. Regulation 9 provides for the appointment of Inspectors of Air Accidents, a Chief Inspector of Air Accidents and a Deputy Chief Inspector and provides that the investigator-in-charge of a safety investigation is the Chief Inspector or any other Inspector selected by the Chief Inspector for that purpose. As permitted by Regulation 996/2010, regulation 10 empowers the Chief Inspector to cause a safety investigation to be conducted in accordance with Regulation 996/2010, Annex 13 and these Regulations where an accident, serious incident or any other incident occurs in or over the United Kingdom and involves an aircraft to which Regulation 996/2010 would not otherwise apply (including an aircraft engaged in military, customs, police or similar services), but only in cases where the Chief Inspector expects to draw safety lessons for civil aviation from a safety investigation. Regulation 11 implements paragraph 5.2 of Annex 13. It requires the Chief Inspector to cause a safety investigation to be conducted (insofar as it is practicable to do so) where an accident or serious incident occurs in or over a country or territory other than the United Kingdom or any other State which is party to the Chicago Convention. It applies where the accident or serious incident involves an aircraft in respect of which the United Kingdom is the State of Registry, the State of the Operator, the State of Design or the State of Manufacture (as defined in the regulation) and where an investigation is not conducted by another State. Regulations 12 to 14 confer powers on the Inspectors of Air Accidents, which are supplemental to those conferred by Regulation 996/2010 and Annex 13, to enable them to conduct safety investigations effectively. Regulation 15 makes provision for the release of evidence by the AAIB following the completion of a safety investigation and for the recovery of the reasonable costs of destruction or disposal of such property where the owner fails to collect it. Regulation 16 requires the investigator-in-charge to provide any person whose reputation could be adversely affected by a safety investigation report (or such other person who appears to best represent that person’s interests) with particulars of any proposed analysis of facts and conclusions as to the circumstances and causes of the accident or incident prior to the publication of the report, and to permit that person to make written representations regarding that proposed analysis. Following the receipt of such representations, the investigator-in-charge must make such changes to the report as the investigator thinks fit. Regulation 17 requires the Chief Inspector to provide a pre-publication copy of the final safety investigation report to the Secretary of State and any person on whom a notice has been served under regulation 16. Paragraphs (1) and (3) of regulation 18 implement paragraph 5.13 of Annex 13 and require the Chief Inspector to reopen a safety investigation where new and significant evidence becomes available. Paragraph (2), which empowers the Chief Inspector to reopen a safety investigation for any other reason where the Chief Inspector considers it appropriate to do so, is a purely domestic provision. In both cases, the Chief Inspector must not reopen a safety investigation which has been delegated to the AAIB without the prior consent of the head of the investigation authority which delegated it. Regulation 19 repeals subsection (1A) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (1982 c.16), in order to reflect the repeal (by Regulation 996/2010) of Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21st November 1994 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents (OJ No L 319, 12.12.1994, p14). Regulations 20 to 28 specify the acts and omissions that contravene these Regulations. Regulation 29 provides that subsection (5) of section 75 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (penalties) applies to all of those provisions, irrespective of whether they are made under section 75. Copies of Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention can be accessed via the website of the International Civil Aviation Organization (at https://store1.icao.int/index.php/annex-13-aircraft-accident-and-incident-investigation-english-printed-13532.html) as a priced publication. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published 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 →

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 0.75.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “constitutes an offence”
Confidence
0.75 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