PART VIIIGENERAL
SUPPLEMENTARY
Regulations and orders57
1
Unless the contrary is expressly provided, any regulations or orders made under this Order by the Ministry, other than a vesting order made under Article 10, shall be subject to negative resolution.
2
Regulations or orders may provide that persons contravening the regulations or orders shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding an amount specified in the regulations or orders.
3
The amount which may be specified in regulations or orders as mentioned in paragraph (2) shall not exceed £400.
Civil liability of Department for escapes of water57A
1
Where an escape of water onto agricultural land or forestry land, however caused, from a main or from a service pipe (within the meaning of paragraph (7)) causes loss or damage, the Department shall be liable, except as otherwise provided by this Article, for the loss or damage.
2
The Department shall not incur any liability under paragraph (1) if the escape was due wholly to the fault of the person who suffered the loss or damage or of any servant, agent or contractor of his.
3
The Department shall not incur any liability under paragraph (1) in respect of any loss or damage suffered by—
a
any person authorised by any statutory provision to carry on any railway or road transport undertakingF2. . . ; or
b
F4bb
any holder of a licence under Article 10(1) of the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992
F2bbb
any holder of a licence under Article 8(1) of the Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
c
the Post Office;
if the Department would not be liable for that loss or damage apart from paragraph (1).
4
The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1948,F5 the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 shall apply in relation to any loss or damage for which the Department is liable under this Article, but which is not due to the fault of the Department, as if it were due to the fault of the Department.
5
Nothing in paragraph (1) affects any entitlement which the Department may have to recover contribution under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978; and for the purposes of that Act, any loss for which the Department is liable under that paragraph shall be treated as if it were damage.
6
Where the Department is liable under any agreement or statutory provision made (in either case) before the commencement of the Water and Sewerage Services (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 to make a payment in respect of any loss or damage, the Department shall not incur any liability under paragraph (1) in respect of the same loss or damage.
7
In this Article—
agricultural land means land used for agriculture for the purposes of a trade or business, and agriculture includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes;
damage includes the death of, or injury to, any person (including any disease and any impairment of physical or mental condition);
fault has the same meaning as in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1948;
forestry land means land used for forestry for the purposes of a trade or business, and forestry means the growing of woods and forests for the production of timber and other forest products and the growing of trees for planting in such woods and forests;
land does not include any house or other building;
service pipe means so much of a service pipe as is vested in the Department.
Protection for telegraph and telephone lines58 F6
1
The Ministry shall take all reasonable precautions in executing any works under this Order so as not injuriously to affect, whether by induction or otherwise, the working of any wire or line used for the purpose ofF7 electronic communications or electrical control of railways or the currents in that wire or line.
2
Any question arising under paragraph (1) as to whether the working of a wire or line is or is not injuriously affected shall, in default of agreement, be determined by arbitration.
3
An arbitrator under paragraph (2) may direct the Ministry to make any alterations in, or additions to, its works, so as to comply with this Article.
4
If the Ministry contravenes this Article, it shall make full compensation to the owner for any loss or damage incurred by him in consequence of the contravention.
Art. 59 rep. by SLR 1980
Art. 60(1), with Schedule 3, effects amendments; paras. (2) (3), with Schedule 4, effect repeals
Savings61
The administrative powers conferred by this Order on the Ministry shall not be taken to authorise any matter or thing to be done without the consent of the Secretary of State or the Board of Trade and if the case so requires of the Crown Estate Commissioners, where that consent is required to be obtained under section 9(2) of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1932. [1932 c.11]