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Notice to appear before a magistrate in respect of
offences.
(Cap. 227.)
CAP. 313]
Shipping and Port Control
[1986 Ed.
77. (1) Notwithstanding section 8 of the Magistrates Ordinance, if an officer of the Marine Department of the rank of Marine Inspector Class II or above reasonably suspects that an offence under this Ordinance has been committed by a master of a vessel, such officer may serve on the master personally or by handing the same personally to the senior officer on board the vessel or to the person appearing to be in charge or command of the vessel at the time of such service a notice requiring the master to appear before a magistrate to be dealt with according to law. (Amended, 46 of 1981, s. 12)
(2) A notice under subsection (1)-
(a) shall be in the prescribed form;
(b) shall be signed by the officer by whom it is served; and
(c) shall state-
(i) the name of the master upon whom it is served and the name of the vessel of which he is the master;
(ii) the offence which is alleged to have been committed with sufficient particulars thereof;
(iii) the time and place at which the offence is alleged to have been committed; and
(iv) the time and place at which the master on whom the notice is served is required to appear.
(3) If a master upon whom a notice under subsection (1) has been duly served fails to appear before a magistrate at the time and place mentioned in the notice, and it is made to appear to the magistrate by oath that the notice was served on the master personally or was handed personally to the senior officer or the person in charge or command of the vessel in accordance with subsection (1), the magistrate may issue his warrant for the apprehension of the master and to bring the master before him or another magistrate to be dealt with according to law duly endorsed as to the amount of bail, if any, upon which the master may be released in the meantime.
(4) If a master upon whom a notice under subsection (1) has been duly served appears before a magistrate in accordance with the notice, or is brought before a magistrate by a warrant issued under subsection (3), the magistrate may hear and determine the offence alleged in the notice as if a complaint had been made or an information had been laid against the master in respect of the offence and for such purposes, the provisions of the Magistrates Ordinance relating to the hearing of a complaint or information and the proceedings thereon shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(5) If a master upon whom a notice under subsection (1) has been served is brought before a magistrate by a warrant issued under subsection (3), the magistrate may, in addition to any other penalty, order the master to pay costs, of not more than $400, solely in respect of the warrant.
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