Energy Act 2004

86 Prosecutions

(1) Subject to subsection (2), this section applies to an offence alleged to have been committed on, under or above—

(a) a renewable energy installation situated in waters to which section 85 applies; or

(b) waters to which section 85 applies that, at the time of the alleged offence, were within a safety zone.

(2) This section does not apply to an offence created by or under—

(a) the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37);

(b) the Customs and Excise Acts 1979, or any enactment that has to be construed as one with those Acts or any of them;

(c) the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (c. 16) or any enactment that has to be construed as one with that Act;

(d) section 23 of the Petroleum Act 1987 (c. 12);

(e) the Pilotage Act 1987 (c. 21);

(f) section 4, 29, 35, 36, 37 or 59 of the 1989 Act, or paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to that Act;

(g) the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (c. 23) or any enactment that has to be construed as one with that Act;

(h) the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c. 21);

(i) section 97 of this Act or Chapter 3 of this Part.

(3) No proceedings for an offence to which this section applies shall be instituted—

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

(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(4) Subsection (3) does not require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, where the proceedings in question are proceedings for which the consent of the Attorney General, or of the Advocate General for Northern Ireland, is required apart from this section.

(5) In relation to times before the coming into force of section 27(1) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (c. 26), the reference in subsection (4) to the Advocate General for Northern Ireland is to be read as a reference to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

(6) Section 3 of the Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (c. 73) (consents to prosecution of offences committed on the open sea by persons who are not British citizens) does not apply to proceedings for an offence to which this section applies.