The Civil Jurisdiction (Application to Offshore Renewable Energy Installations etc.) Order 2009

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Civil Jurisdiction (Application to Offshore Renewable Energy Installations etc.) Order 2009.

(2) Articles 1, 2, 3(a), 4 and 5(1) of this Order shall come into force on 5th August 2009 and all other articles thereof shall come into force on 1st November 2009.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order —

“the Act” means the Energy Act 2004;

“co-ordinate” means a co-ordinate on the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 1936 Datum;

“line”, in relation to any list of co-ordinates in this Order, means a loxodromic line;

“offshore area” means—

(a)

tidal waters and parts of the sea in or adjacent to Great Britain up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea;

(b)

waters in the Renewable Energy Zone as designated by the Renewable Energy Zone (Designation of Area) Order 2004(1);

“relevant act” means an act or omission taking place on, under or above—

(a)

a renewable energy installation situated in the offshore area, or

(b)

the offshore area in relation to a related line;

“the English area” means such of the offshore area adjacent to England and Wales which lies to the south of the Scottish border;

“the Scottish area” means such of the offshore area adjacent to Scotland which lies to the north of the Scottish border;

“the Scottish border” has the meaning in the Schedule to this Order.

Application of English and Scottish civil law

3.  Subject to the provisions of any Order made under section 85 of the Act with respect to the application of criminal law and to article 4—

(a) the law in force in England and Wales shall apply for the determination of questions arising out of relevant acts taking place in the English area; and

(b) the law in force in Scotland shall apply for the determination of questions arising out of relevant acts taking place in the Scottish area.

Exclusions

4.  Article 3 does not apply to—

(a) sections 9(1) and (2) of the Race Relations Act 1976(2);

(b) the Trade Union and Labour (Consolidation) Act 1992(3) except the provisions of that Act extended to a person in offshore employment by virtue of orders made under section 287 of that Act(4).

Jurisdiction

5.—(1) The High Court shall have such jurisdiction for the determination of any questions arising out of a relevant act which, under article 3(a) above, fall to be determined in accordance with the law in force in England and Wales as it would have if the relevant act had taken place in England or Wales.

(2) The Court of Session shall have such jurisdiction for the determination of any questions arising out of a relevant act which, under article 3(b) above, fall to be determined in accordance with the law in force in Scotland as it would have if the relevant act had taken place in Scotland.

Judith Simpson

Clerk of the Privy Council