UK Offence Report

Duties of pilot-in-command

article 37B(4) of The Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) (No. 2) 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

4 In this rule, “act of unlawful interference” means any act which would constitute an offence under sections 1 to 4 of the Aviation Security Act 1982, if committed in a territory to which those sections have been extended by the Aviation Security and Piracy (Overseas Territories) Order 2000.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 37B(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 Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2021.

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
23 June 2021
In force from
22 July 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 amends the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2013 (“the Order”) (S.I. 2013/2870) to update regulatory standards and ensure the aviation safety regime in the Overseas Territories complies with the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Chicago Convention of 7th December 1944. The amendments include new provisions in relation to aviation security; use of psychoactive substances; the carriage of dangerous goods, weapons and munitions; age restrictions for pilots flying commercial air transport; wildlife aircraft strikes; and for data monitoring and safety management, as well as other minor amendments. The amendments also incorporate the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) standards on the registration and use of unmanned aircraft, adoption of the ICAO Technical Instructions on dangerous goods, and the training of designated postal operators, as well making provision for article 83 bis agreements under the Chicago Convention. In addition, this Order makes changes to Schedule 4 to the Order (Rules of the Air), including rules for protection of persons and property, formation flights, water operations, time reporting requirements, night flights, acts of unlawful interference, and interception of civil aircraft, and updates marshalling signals. 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 has been published alongside this Order and is available 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 →

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 0.75.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “constitutes an offence”
Confidence
0.75 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