If you are charged with a safety offence under section 64 or section 65, the court will look at what you did or did not do. If the court thinks you broke a maritime rule, it will assume you put someone or something at risk, even if no one got hurt. You can prove the court wrong if you have evidence to show that is not true. If you break a maritime rule, the court does not need proof of this to decide if you are guilty of a safety offence under section 64 or section 65. This means the court can still find you guilty even if you did not break a maritime rule. The court will look at all the evidence to make a decision.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM335761.

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Topics:

Transport and travel > BoatingCrime and justice > Police and safety

Part 6Offences in relation to maritime activity
Safety offences

66Effect of breach of maritime rule

Where any person is charged with any offence against section 64 or section 65 and the court is satisfied that any act or omission of that person, or caused or permitted by that person, constitutes a breach of a relevant maritime rule, then, in the absence of proof to the contrary, it shall be presumed that the act or omission caused unnecessary danger or risk to another person or to property, irrespective of whether or not in fact any injury or damage occurred.
Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to require the proof of a breach of a maritime rule as an element of any offence described in section 64 or section 65.