UK Offence Report

Incorporation of provisions of Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847

article 3(2) of The Fowey Harbour Revision Order 2021

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

2 Section

63 of the Act of 1847 shall have effect subject to the modification that for the words from “liable to” to the end of the section there are substituted the words “be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale”.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 article 3(2)?

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 Fowey Harbour Revision Order 2021.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
9 February 2021
In force from
11 March 2021
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order empowers the Fowey Harbour Commissioners (“the Commissioners”) as harbour authority for Fowey Harbour to clarify the limits of the harbour to expressly include the harbour premises (article 13). An illustrative plan (defined in article 13) showing the harbour limits and the harbour premises may be inspected during working hours at the Commissioners main office at Albert Quay, Fowey PL23 1AJ. The Order confers on the Commissioners and the harbour master (defined in article 2) powers of general and special direction for the regulation and management of the harbour (articles 4 to 10). The powers of general direction are extended to include the regulation of vehicles in the harbour and provision is made of a register of all in force general directions which may be inspected during working hours at the main office of the Commissioners (article 4). The Order creates an offence of failing to comply with special or general directions, the penalty for which is a fine on summary conviction not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (article 8). A defence of due diligence is available to a person charged under article 8 (article 8(2)). The Order confers on the Commissioners powers related to the licensing of boatmen and vessels (article 12) and updates the constitution of the Commissioners to remove the requirement for Cornwall Council to appoint Commissioners to reflect current arrangements (amendment of articles 4, 6 and 8 and Schedule 2 of the Order of 2001) (article 14). The Order also makes amendments to articles 3 and 4 of the Order of 1937 to update the definition of vessel and to omit article 4(1)(c) which is no longer required as a result of article 3 of the Order (incorporation of provisions of Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847). The Order also amends article 4 of the Order of 1980 to update the level of fine to level 3 on the standard scale (article 18). The Order also revokes/repeals the Pier and Harbour Order (Fowey) Confirmation Act 1960 in its entirety and article 5 of the Order of 2001 (article 19). A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. An explanatory memorandum is available alongside the instrument on the UK Legislation website 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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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