(1)Part XII of the M1Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (which makes provision in relation to legal proceedings and related matters) shall apply for the purposes of this Act as it applies for the purposes of that Act.
(2)Proceedings for an offence under section 6 shall not be instituted—
(a)in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General or the Secretary of State; or
(b)in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland or the Secretary of State.
(3)Without prejudice to section 291 of the M2Merchant Shipping Act 1995 in its application to this Act, any document required or authorised by or under any enactment to be served for the purpose of the institution of, or otherwise in connection with, proceedings for an offence under section 6(1) shall, where it is to be served on a person who was, at the time of the alleged offence—
(a)the owner of the ship in question, or
(b)such a charterer by demise or manager of that ship as is mentioned in subsection (2) of that section,
be treated as duly served on that person if—
(i)sent to him by post at his last-known address (whether of his residence or of a place where he carries on business), or
(ii)left for him at that address,
or if the document is served on the master of the ship in question.
The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.
(1)This Act may be cited as the Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Act 1995.
(2)In this Act “protective order” has the meaning given by section 1(3) and, subject to this Act, other expressions used in this Act and in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 shall have the same meaning in this Act as in that Act.
(3)Any power to give directions conferred by this Act includes power to vary or revoke directions so given.
(4)This Act shall come into force on 1st January 1996.
(5)This Act extends to Northern Ireland.