UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2018

regulation 4(4) of The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention and Work in Fishing Convention) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

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

4 In regulation 9 (offences and penalties)— a in paragraph (1), after “vessel” insert “, which is not an exempt fishing vessel,”; b after paragraph (3) insert— 3A If a United Kingdom fishing vessel which is an exempt fishing vessel is not made available for a survey in accordance with Merchant Shipping Notice 1885 (F), the fishing vessel owner and the skipper of the fishing vessel are guilty of an offence and are liable— a on summary conviction— i in England and Wales, to a fine; ii in Scotland and Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; or b on conviction on indictment to 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 4(4)?

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 Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention and Work in Fishing Convention) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

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
22 October 2020
In force from
26 December 2020
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 amend the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1613, “the Minimum Requirements Regulations”) to implement the amendments of 2018 to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006. The amendments of 2018 were approved by the 107th session of the International Labour Conference on 5th June 2018. These Regulations further amend the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1106), the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1107) and the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1108), as set out below. Regulation 2 inserts regulation 11A into the Minimum Requirements Regulations. Regulation 11A(2) provides that where a seafarer’s seafarer employment agreement would otherwise terminate during a period where the seafarer is held captive as a result of armed robbery or piracy against a ship, that agreement continues in force until the date on which the seafarer is repatriated or, if earlier, the date of the seafarer’s death. Further, the inserted regulation 11A(4) provides that the seafarer’s wages and other remuneration as well as any wages allotted to another person must continue to be paid while the seafarer is held captive and any term of any agreement is void to the extent that it purports to reduce, vary or stop any such payment. Additionally, regulation 21(c) of the Minimum Requirements is amended to provide that while a seafarer is held captive as a result of piracy or armed robbery against a ship, the shipowner’s duty to repatriate the seafarer cannot end on the basis of the shipowner being unable to contact the seafarer for three months or more. Regulation 3 amends the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations 2018. Regulation 3(2) makes it a criminal offence for a fishing vessel owner to fail to comply with their duty to make provision for medical treatment. Regulation 3(3) makes provision in that instrument to allow fishing vessels which do not comply with the Regulations and where conditions on board are hazardous to the safety, health or security of fishermen to be detained. In addition, fishing vessels may be detained to allow the Secretary of State to recover costs associated with repatriating fishermen where the fishing vessel owner fails to do so. Regulation 4 amends the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2018. Regulation 4(2) corrects regulation 4(3) of those Regulations to provide that fishing vessels not subject to surveys leading to Work in Fishing Convention Certificates are subject to surveys as set out in Merchant Shipping Notice 1885 (F). Further, it clarifies the language in regulation 4(2) of those Regulations. Regulation 4(3) creates a criminal offence in relation to fishing vessels not required to hold a Work in Fishing Certificate. The failure of such a vessel to present itself for a survey in accordance with Merchant Shipping Notice 1885(F) is an offence for the owner of the vessel and the skipper of the vessel. Regulation 5 amends the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2018. The amendments of 2018 may be downloaded from the website of the International Labour Organisation using the following internet address: https://ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:51:::NO:51:P51_CONTENT_REPOSITORY_ID:3952969 and copies of the Maritime Labour Convention may be obtained as a priced publication from www.tsoshop.co.uk, by post via 18 Central Avenue, St Andrew’s Business Park, Norwich, NR7 0HR, tel: 0333 202 5070 or inspected free of charge at the following address Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG. A hard copy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is available free of charge but by appointment at the Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0PW (catalogue number HL/PO/JO/10/11/3186/287). An electronic copy can be found at https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=69421 . An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this 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 →

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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