Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975

Criminal and civil liability

28 Enforcement

(1) Any person who—

(a) contravenes any provision of section 20(1) of this Act; or

(b) contravenes any provision of a notice which, in pursuance of section 22 or 23 of this Act, was served on him in his capacity as the owner of the pipe-line or the proposed owner of the proposed pipe-line to which the notice relates in a case where no authorisation for the use of the pipe-line is required by section 20(1) of this Act; or

(c) makes a statement which he knows is false in a material particular, or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular, for the purpose of inducing the Secretary of State—

(i) to issue any authorisation ; or

(ii) to agree in pursuance of section 24(1)(b) of this Act that an authorisation is to cease to be in force; or

(iii) to specify a period in pursuance of section 24(2)(W of this Act; or

(iv) not to serve a notice in pursuance of section 24(4) of this Act,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.

(2) If a person executes any works in contravention of section 20(1) of this Act the Secretary of State may at any time serve on him a notice requiring him to comply with one or both of the following requirements, namely—

(a) to remove such of the works as are specified in the notice as works to be removed ;

(b) to take, in respect of such of the works as are specified in the notice as works which the Secretary of State considers are unsafe, such steps as are specified in the notice as steps which the Secretary of State considers are needed in order to make the works safe.

(3) It shall be the duty of the recipient of a notice in pursuance of the preceding subsection to comply with the notice within the period specified in that behalf in the notice; and if he fails to perform that duty the Secretary of State may comply with the notice on his behalf and recover from him any expenses reasonably incurred in doing so.

(4) If a person executes any works in contravention of section 20(1) of this Act and the Secretary of State considers that it is urgently necessary to do such things in relation to the works as he could have required that person to do by a notice in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section, the Secretary of State may do those things and recover from that person any expenses reasonably incurred in doing so.

(5) The fact that any thing is done or omitted—

(a) by the recipient of a notice served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section for the purpose of complying with the notice; or

(b) by the Secretary of State in pursuance of subsection (3) or (4) of this section,

shall not relieve him from liability for any damage which is attributable to the act or omission and for which he would have been liable had the act or omission not been authorised by this section; but the Secretary of State shall be entitled to recover from the person who executed the works in question the amount of any damages which, in consequence of the works, are paid by the Secretary of State by virtue of this subsection.

29 Criminal proceedings

(1) Proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of the preceding section or created by regulations made by virtue of this Part of this Act (hereafter in this section referred to as a " relevant offence ") may be taken, and the offence may for incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the United Kingdom.

(2) No proceedings shall be instituted in England and Wales or Northern Ireland for a relevant offence alleged to have been committed in, under or over controlled waters except—

(a) in the case of proceedings in England and Wales, by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions; or

(b) in the case of proceedings in Northern Ireland, by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland ; or

(c) in any case, by the Secretary of State or a person authorised by him in that behalf.

(3) In proceedings for a relevant offence an averment in the information, complaint or indictment that anything was done or situated in, under or over controlled waters shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of the matter stated in the averment.

(4) Where a relevant offence has been committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

In this subsection " director ", in relation to a body corporate which—

(a) is established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under public ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking; and

(b) is a body whose affairs are managed by its members,

means a member of the body corporate.

(5) In any proceedings for—

(a) an offence under subsection (1)(a) of the preceding section of executing works or using a pipe-line otherwise than in accordance with the terms of the relevant authorisation; or

(b) an offence under subsection (1)(b) of that section of contravening any provision of a notice,

it shall be a defence to prove that the accused used all due diligence to comply with those terms or, as the case may be, with that provision.

(6) Section 3 of the [1878 c. 73.] Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (which relates to consents for prosecutions) shall not apply to any proceedings for a relevant offence.

30 Civil liability for breach of statutory duty

(1) Breach of a duty imposed on any person by a provision of regulations which are made in pursuance of this Part of this Act and which state that this subsection applies to such a breach shall be actionable so far, and only so far, as the breach causes personal injury; and references in section 1 of the [1846 c. 93.] Fatal Accidents Act 1846, as it applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to a wrongful act, neglect or default shall include references to any such breach which is so actionable.

(2) Nothing in the preceding subsection prejudices any action which lies apart from the provisions of that subsection.

(3) A defence to a charge which is available by virtue of section 32(3)(c) of this Act shall not be a defence in any civil proceedings which are brought either in pursuance of this section or otherwise.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section any such regulations as are mentioned in that subsection shall bind the Crown, and references in those regulations to employees shall for those purposes include persons in the service of the Crown ; but nothing in this subsection confers any right of action on a person as a member of the armed forces of the Crown or authorises proceedings against Her Majesty in her private capacity or in right of the Duchy of Lancaster or against the Duke of Cornwall.

(5) In subsection (1) of this section " personal injury " includes any disease, any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition and any fatal injury.