UK Offence Report

k regulation 13(1) or 13(2) (entries in garbage record books), is an offence by the officer in charge of the…

regulation 21(1)(k) of The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships) 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

k regulation 13(1) or 13(2) (entries in garbage record books), is an offence by the officer in charge of the discharge, accidental loss or completed incineration;

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 officer
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Legal burden on the defendant

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 officer 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 gives a defence the defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities. A legal burden of that kind can be read down to a merely evidential one under section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 where placing it on the defendant would be disproportionate (R v Lambert [2001] UKHL 37; Sheldrake v DPP [2004] UKHL 43).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

The defence, as drafted

In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, it is a defence for the person charged to prove that they took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to ensure that the regulation in question was complied with. 2 Without prejudice to paragraph (1), in any proceedings for an offence under regulation 21(1)(a) or (c) (offences) it is a defenc

What would breach regulation 21(1)(k)?

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 (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2020.

Penalty

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

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
29 June 2020
In force from
22 July 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 implement the current version of Annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as amended by the Protocol of 1978 (“the Convention”). Annex V contains regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships. The current version of Annex V came into force internationally on 31st December 1988 and amendments have been made to it since that time. These Regulations implement all amendments to Annex V as at the date of this statutory instrument. Future amendments to the Convention and other instruments referred to in these Regulations will be automatically incorporated into the Regulations by way of ambulatory reference (regulation 3). The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/3257) which implemented a previous version of Annex V are revoked by virtue of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/620) (“the Sewage Regulations”). The Sewage Regulations, which come into force simultaneously with these Regulations, also update other instruments which refer to these Regulations. Parts 2 and 3 of the Regulations apply to United Kingdom ships wherever they may be and to all other ships in United Kingdom waters or controlled waters (regulation 4). Part 2 imposes a prohibition on the discharge of garbage into the sea (regulation 5) subject to a number of exceptions outside special areas (regulation 5(1)(a)), for fixed or floating platforms (regulation 5(1)(b)) and within special areas (regulation 5(1)(c)). There is also an exemption for discharges of garbage within polar waters which comply with the requirements of Chapter 5 of part II-A of the Polar Code (regulation 5(1)(d)). United Kingdom ships are prohibited from entering the Antarctic area unless they have sufficient capacity for the retention of garbage on board (regulation 7). Regulation 8 (exceptions) provides exceptions to the prohibition in regulation 5 covering safety, accidental loss and the protection of the marine environment. Part 3 of the Regulations requires a shipper of solid bulk cargo to make a declaration as to whether that cargo is harmful to the marine environment (regulation 9). Part 4 applies to United Kingdom ships wherever they may be and to all other ships in controlled waters which meet certain size and weight criteria. It imposes a requirement for the carrying on ships of placards notifying passengers and crew about the disposal of garbage (regulation 10). Ships are required to have a garbage management plan (regulation 11) and garbage record books to record the discharge or completed incineration of garbage (regulations 12 and 13). Ships without garbage record books are required to record certain discharges of garbage in their log-books (regulation 15). The Secretary of State may grant exemptions from one or more of the garbage record book requirements in regulations 12 and 13 (regulation 14). Part 5 of the Regulations makes provision in relation to powers of inspection and detention of ships, and in relation to offences and penalties. The Secretary of State must 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 thereafter (regulation 27). Following such 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. Guidance supporting these Regulations has been published in a Marine Guidance Note (MGN 632 (M+F)). Copies of MGN 632 (M+F) may be obtained free of charge at www.gov.uk or in hard copy from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (“MCA”) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG. The Convention (including its Protocols, Annexes and amendments), SOLAS, the Polar Code, the London Convention and the Tonnage Convention can be obtained from the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”) at IMO Publishing, 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR, www.imo.org/publications; email: sales@imo.org; telephone: 0207 735 7611. The text of IMO Resolutions may be obtained in hard copy from the IMO Library at the same address as IMO Publishing. The amendments to the Convention can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office treaties database (https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). Except where otherwise stated, copies of the Command Papers referred to in this instrument are not available electronically but are available for inspection free of charge but by appointment at the Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0PW; email: archives@parliament.uk; telephone: 0207 219 3074. A hard copy of UNCLOS is available for inspection 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 of Cm. 4524 can be found at https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=69421. Future amendments to the Convention and other documents to which the ambulatory reference provision applies (regulation 3) may be obtained from the IMO and, after coming into force in the United Kingdom, found on https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/. Until such publication is made, an amendment will be available from the MCA and on www.gov.uk. An amendment will be published 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 hard copy from MCA and on www.gov.uk. A full Impact Assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it is not expected to have significant impact on the public or voluntary sectors and only minimal impact on the private sector 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 →

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 0.62.

Basis
the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.62 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