UK Offence Report

Offences in respect of which a sentence of imprisonment and/or a fine may be imposed

regulation 9(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) 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

1 Any contravention of— a regulation 5(2)(a) (on board plan for cooperation with search and rescue services); b regulation 5(2)(g), in so far as it requires a ship to comply with paragraphs 1 to 3 and 7 of regulation 18 in Chapter V (approval, surveys and performance standards of navigational systems and equipment and voyage data recorder); c regulation 5(2)(h) (carriage requirements for shipborne navigational systems and equipment); d regulation 5(2)(j) (voyage data recorders); e regulation 5(2)(k), in so far as it requires a ship to comply with regulation 30 in Chapter V (operational limitations), is an offence by the owner and master.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 owner
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 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 9(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 the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

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

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

The Ministry of Justice records offences under this instrument against offence code 9584 — 09584 - TEW offences under the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020. That code may cover several provisions of the instrument, so a count against it is not a count of prosecutions under this provision alone.

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have their own code in the MoJ’s Outcomes by Offence data tool. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
9 July 2020
In force from
31 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 Chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (“the Convention”) (as amended to date), relating to the safety of navigation of ships. The Regulations revoke and replace the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2002 (as well as other instruments which amended those Regulations) and apply, with certain limited exceptions, to United Kingdom ships and to non-United Kingdom ships when in United Kingdom waters, including ships from countries which are not parties to the Convention (regulation 3). All future amendments to the provisions of Chapter V referenced in these Regulations will be automatically incorporated into the Regulations by way of ambulatory reference (regulation 4). Regulation 5 prescribes the requirements of Chapter V which apply to ships within the scope of these Regulations, and also makes provision to reflect that Contracting States may exercise the right to derogate from some of those requirements. The Regulations provide for the granting of exemptions (regulation 6), the approval of equivalents (regulation 7) and the granting of approvals in relation to matters in Chapter V requiring the approval of a Contracting State (regulation 8). The Regulations also provide for contravention of the various requirements in regulation 5 to be offences and subject to criminal penalties (regulations 9 to 11). In cases of non-compliance with the requirements in regulation 5, a ship may be detained (regulation 12). Regulation 13 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report before 31st July 2025 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 revoke the Regulations. Marine Guidance Note (MGN) 610 (M+F) provides guidance on the requirements imposed by Chapter V and how the Secretary of State will exercise discretion where this is permitted by Chapter V. The MGN is available on www.gov.uk/topic/ships-cargoes/m-notices and in hard copy from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email infoline@mcga.gov.uk) or on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency. Merchant Shipping Notice 1837 (M) Amendment 2, which is referred to in these Regulations, is available on www.gov.uk/topic/ships-cargoes/m-notices and in hard copy from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email infoline@mcga.gov.uk) or on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency. The Convention and its Protocol of 1988 may be obtained in copy from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR and both are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treaties database (https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=79786). The text of the IMO Resolutions amending the Convention and Protocol may be obtained from the IMO or on the FCO treaties database (https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=68013). 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 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treaties database (https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). Until such publication is made on the FCO treaties database, 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. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the instrument on 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