UK Offence Report

Amendment of article 9

regulation 5(3) of The Sea Fishing (Miscellaneous Amendments) 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 After paragraph (6) insert— 6A In relation to

a non-cooperating third country listed on

a list established under Article

33 of the Council Regulation, it is an offence for

a person—

a to import fishery products caught by

a fishing vessel flying the flag of the third country unless the products are from stock or species to which the listing does not apply;

b to purchase

a fishing vessel flying the flag of the third country;

c to reflag

a fishing vessel flying the flag of

a member State so that it flies the flag of the third country;

d to enter into

a charter agreement with the third country in relation to

a fishing vessel flying its flag;

e to export

a Community fishing vessel to the third country;

f to enter into an agreement for

a fishing vessel flying the flag of

a member State to use the fishing possibilities of the third country; or

g to participate in joint fishing operations with

a fishing vessel flying the flag of the third country. .

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
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 5(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. Moving the goods across the border under the Sea Fishing (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 without the licence the instrument requires.
  2. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  3. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

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
22 May 2018
In force from
18 June 2018
Extent
E+W

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 amend the Sea Fishing (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/3391) (“the 2009 Order”) and the Sea Fishing (Points for Masters of Fishing Boats) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/3345) (“the 2014 Regulations”). They implement provisions of Article 38 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (OJ No. L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 1) and of Article 92(6) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy (OJ No. L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1). Regulation 3 substitutes new extent and application provisions for article 2 of the 2009 Order. Regulation 4 amends article 3 of the 2009 Order in relation to various definitions. Regulation 5 amends article 9 of the 2009 Order to clarify the provisions of Article 9(4) and to extend the offence provisions relating to non-cooperating third countries listed under Article 33 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008, implementing Article 38 of that Regulation. Regulation 6 revokes article 11 of the 2009 Order regarding recovery of fines. Regulation 7 amends article 21 of the 2009 Order to update references to an EU instrument and to add transhipment declarations and takeover declarations to the list of documents admissible in evidence in any proceedings in respect of an offence under the 2009 Order. Regulations 8 to 11 amend provisions in regulations 1, 8 and 10 of the 2014 Regulations relating to the start date of a suspension period or the disqualification of a master under those Regulations. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector 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 0.90.

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