THE RAILWAYS (SAFETY MANAGEMENT) REGULATIONS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2006

PART V MISCELLANEOUS

Appeals

25.—(1) A person who is aggrieved by a—

(a) decision of the Department to refuse his application for—

(i) a safety certificate or safety authorisation;

(ii) an amended safety certificate or safety authorisation;

(b) direction of the Department to make an application to amend his safety certificate or safety authorisation; or

(c) decision of the Department to revoke his—

(i) safety certificate or part of it; or

(ii) safety authorisation,

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a failure by the Department to make a decision on whether or not to issue or amend a safety certificate or safety authorisation within the four month period for making a decision calculated in accordance with regulation 17(7) shall be treated as a refusal of the application.

(2) The Deregulation (Model Appeals Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1997(1) shall apply to an appeal under paragraph (1)

(3) Where an appeal is made under paragraphs (1)(a) or (1)(c), the decision in question shall be suspended pending the final determination of the appeal..

Exemptions

26.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) the Department may, by a certificate in writing, exempt any person or class of persons, any railway or part of any railway from any requirement or prohibition imposed by these Regulations.

(2) The Department shall not grant any such exemption unless, having regard to the circumstances of the case, and in particular to—

(a) the conditions, if any, which it proposes to attach to the exemption; and

(b) any other requirements imposed by or under any enactment which apply to the case,

it is satisfied that the health and safety of persons who are likely to be affected by the exemption will not be prejudiced in consequence of it.

(3) Any such exemption may be granted pursuant to paragraph (1) subject to conditions and with or without limit of time and may be revoked by a certificate in writing at any time.

Defence of due diligence

27.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, in any proceedings against any person for an offence under regulation 4(4) it shall be a defence for that person to show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.

(2) Where in any proceedings against any person for such an offence the defence provided in paragraph (1) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due to—

(a) the act or default of another; or

(b) reliance on information given by another,

that person shall not, without the leave of the court, be entitled to rely on the defence unless, within a period ending seven clear days before the hearing of the proceedings, he has served a notice under paragraph (3) on the person bringing the proceedings.

(3) a notice under this paragraph shall give such information identifying, or assisting in the identification of, the person who committed the act or default or gave the information as is in the possession of the person serving the notice at the time he serves it.

(4) A person shall not be entitled to rely on the defence provided by paragraph (1) by reason of his reliance on information supplied to another, unless he shows that it was reasonable in all the circumstances for him to have relied upon the information, having regard in particular—

(a) to the steps which he took, and those which might reasonably have been taken, for the purpose of verifying the information; and

(b) to whether he had any reason to disbelieve the information.

Transitional Provisions

28.  The provisions of Schedule 5 shall have effect.

(1)

S.R. 1997 No. 269