UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft)…

the instrument as a whole of The Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 85(5)-(7) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 85(5)-(7) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

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
12 September 2023
In force from
5 October 2023
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 revoke and replace the Merchant Shipping (Mandatory Surveys for Ro-Ro Ferry and High Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/152). These Regulations apply to ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft operating a regular service between a port in the UK and a port of a country other than a member State and to those on domestic voyages in sea areas in which ships of class A may operate in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships on Domestic Voyages) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/2687) (regulation 3). Regulation 4 and Schedule 1 provide for the minimum qualification criteria for inspectors. The requirements for pre-commencement inspections, exemptions from pre-commencement inspections and for regular inspections are set out in regulations 5 to 7 respectively and Schedules 2 and 3. Regulation 8 makes provision for detention of ships and service of prohibition of departure notices prohibiting a ship’s departure where any deficiencies confirmed or revealed by an inspection in relation to the ship have not been rectified and the deficiencies are hazardous to health or safety. A prohibition of departure notice may also be issued if the Secretary of State has not been able to carry out an inspection as required to do so under these Regulations. All future amendments to the provisions of the international conventions referenced in regulation 2 will be automatically incorporated into the regulation by way of ambulatory reference. Regulation 9 and Schedule 4 require the drawing up of a written inspection report, set out what must be contained in the report and provide that a copy of the report must be given to the ship’s master and the company. The expression “company”, which is defined in regulation 2, means, in relation to a ship or craft, whoever has agreed to take over obligations imposed by the International Management Code for Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention or in certain cases the owner or whoever has assumed operating responsibility from the owner. Responsibility for the costs of service of prohibition of departure notices are provided for in regulation 10. Regulation 12 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report before the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which these Regulations come into force 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. Schedule 5 makes consequential amendments. Marine Guidance Note (MGN) 610 (M+F), which is referred to in the Regulations, provides guidance on the requirements imposed by Chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974. 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. The international conventions and protocols referred to in this instrument may be obtained in copy from the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR and are available on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) treaties database (https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). The text of the IMO Resolutions amending the conventions and protocols may be obtained from the IMO or can be found on the FCDO treaties database https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). The Paris Memorandum of Understanding may be obtained in copy from the Secretariat Paris MOU on PSC, P.O. Box 16191, 2500 BC The Hague, The Netherlands, or can be found on https://www.parismou.org/inspections-risk/port-state-control-inspections-paris-mou. Future amendments to the conventions and the protocols may be obtained in copy from the IMO and after coming into force in the United Kingdom, found on the FCDO treaties database (https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). Until such publication is made on the FCDO 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. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen. The Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this 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.

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 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 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