UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Sea Fish (Specified Sea Areas) (Prohibition of Fishing Method) (Wales) Order 2012

the instrument as a whole of The Sea Fish (Specified Sea Areas) (Prohibition of Fishing Method) (Wales) Order 2012

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 sections 1(7)-(8) and

11 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967. 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Sea Fish (Specified Sea Areas) (Prohibition of Fishing Method) (Wales) Order 2012.

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 sections 1(7)-(8) and 11 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967.

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
10 October 2012
In force from
1 November 2012
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, which applies in relation to Wales, prohibits fishing for sea fish with fishing boats using bottom towed fishing gear within the specified sea areas. The provisions of this Order also revoke and replace Byelaw 21 of the former North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee (“the Sea Fisheries Committee”). The Sea Fisheries Committee was abolished, in relation to Wales, on 1 April 2010 when the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 was repealed in relation to Wales by section 187 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Since that date, Byelaw 21 of the Sea Fisheries Committee has had effect as though made by the Welsh Ministers in a statutory instrument by virtue of article 13(3) of and Schedule 4 to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (Commencement No. 1, Consequential, Transitional and Savings Provisions) (England and Wales) Order 2010. Byelaw 21 of the Sea Fisheries Committee prohibited the use of bottom towed fishing gear from any fishing boat within one of the specified sea areas detailed in the Schedule to this Order. Article 3 of this Order prohibits fishing for sea fish within the specified sea areas using bottom towed fishing gear and requires that all bottom towed fishing gear must be inboard, stowed and secured when any fishing boat is within the specified sea areas. Article 4 of this Order revokes Byelaw 21 of the Sea Fisheries Committee and makes the necessary consequential amendment to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (Commencement No. 1, Consequential, Transitional and Savings Provisions) (England and Wales) Order 2010. A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been undertaken in relation to this Order and is available for inspection at the offices of the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.63.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.63 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