Offences
Section 39 - Breach of requirement for, or conditions of, licence
53.Section 39 indicates that it is an offence for a person to carry out a licensable activity (as defined in section 21) without a licence or to breach any condition of a licence.
54.A person who is bound by specified conditions in a licence (by virtue of section 29(5)) cannot be considered to have committed an offence unless the Scottish Ministers have issued notice to that person stating that particular conditions must be complied with and the person has subsequently failed to comply with that notice within the period specified in it.
55.Section 39(4) states the maximum penalties for committing an offence under the section.
Section 40 - Defences: action taken in an emergency
56.Section 40 provides that, if a person undertakes a licensable activity without a licence but does so for the purpose of securing the safety of a vessel, aircraft or structure, or for the purpose of saving life, they have a defence against any charge brought against them. However, this is dependent on the person informing the Scottish Ministers within a reasonable timeframe of the matters listed in section 40(2), on the steps taken being reasonable, and on it not being the fault of the person that the emergency occurred.
Section 41 - Defences: electronic communications: emergency works
57.Section 41 gives a defence against any charge brought under section 39(1) for operations conducted by an operator or undertaker and which are classified as emergency works within the meaning of the electronic communications code in Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1984.
Section 42 - Offence relating to information
58.Section 42 indicates that it is an offence for a person to knowingly supply false or misleading information in trying to obtain a marine licence or get it varied or transferred. Section 42(3) sets out applicable penalties.
