PENALTIES FOR IMMERSION OPERATIONS
| Article L218-48 |
| (Ordinance n ° 2000-916 of September 19, 2000 art. 3 Official Journal of September 22, 2000 in force on January 1, 2002)
Is punished by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 18,000 euros for the fact, for any captain of a French vessel or any captain of a French aircraft or any person responsible for the conduct of immersion operations on French vehicles or fixed or floating platforms under French jurisdiction, within the meaning of article 19 of the convention mentioned in article L. 218-42, to be guilty of infringement of the provisions of articles 5, 6 and 7 of said agreement or the obligations imposed by virtue of Article L. 218-42. |
| Article L218-49 |
| (Ordinance n ° 2000-916 of September 19, 2000 art. 3 Official Journal of September 22, 2000 in force on January 1, 2002)
In the cases provided for in article 8-1 of the international convention mentioned in article L. 218-42, the immersions must be notified as soon as possible, by one of the persons referred to in article L. 218-48, to the maritime prefect or his representative under penalty of a fine of 3,750 euros. |
| Article L218-50 |
| Without prejudice to the penalties provided for in Article L. 218-48, if one of the offenses was committed on the order of the owner or operator of the ship, aircraft, gear or platform form, this owner or operator is punished by double the penalties provided for in said article. Any owner or operator of a vessel, aircraft, craft or platform who has not given the captain, pilot-in-command or the person responsible for the conduct of the dumping operations on the machine or the platform the written order to comply with the provisions of this section may be regarded as an accomplice to the offenses provided for therein. When the owner or operator is a legal person, the responsibility provided for in the two paragraphs above rests with the legal representative (s) or de facto managers who assume the management or administration or any person authorized by them. |
| Article L218-51 |
| The penalties provided for in Article L. 218-48 apply to any ship’s captain and any captain embarking or loading on French territory, without being able to prove one of the authorizations provided for by the this section, substances, materials or wastes intended for disposal at sea. |
| Article L218-52 |
| In the event of violation of one or more conditions set by the authorizations provided for in Articles L. 218-42 and L. 218-43, the penalties prescribed by Article L. 218-48 shall apply, as the case may be, to the holder of the authorization, to the owner of the substances, materials and waste intended for dumping at sea, or to the persons referred to respectively in Articles L. 218-48, L. 218-50 and L. 218-51. |
| Article L218-53 |
| I. – Independently of the officers and agents of the judicial police, are empowered to investigate and record violations of the provisions of this section: 1 ° The administrators of maritime affairs, inspectors of maritime affairs, officers of the technical and administrative body of maritime affairs, expert technicians from the maritime navigation safety service; 2 ° The engineers of the bridges and roads and the engineers of the public works of the State assigned to the maritime services as well as the agents of the aforesaid services commissioned for this purpose; 3 ° State mining engineers and public works engineers assigned to the mining service of the mineralogical districts concerned; 4 ° The port officers and deputy port officers, the agents of the navigation police and the surveillance of maritime fisheries; 5 ° The commanders, second in command or second officer of the ships of the national navy; 6 ° The civil servants of the civil aviation technical bodies commissioned for this purpose, the engineers of the bridges and roads and the engineers of the public works of the State in charge of the air bases; 7 ° The engineers of the armaments corps, commissioned for this purpose, the aeronautical design and manufacturing technicians commissioned for this purpose; 8 ° The researchers, engineers and sworn technicians of the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea; 9 ° Customs officers; 10 ° Abroad, the consuls of France, excluding consular agents. II. – Are responsible for investigating violations of the provisions of this section, to collect for this purpose all information in order to discover the authors, and to inform either an administrator of maritime affairs, an officer of the technical and administrative body of maritime affairs or an inspector of maritime affairs, either a civil engineer or a civil engineer of the State assigned to a maritime service, or a judicial police officer: 1 ° The commanders of the oceanographic vessels of the State ; 2 ° The captains of military aircraft, civil defense aircraft and aircraft of the 3 ° The agents of the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea. |
| Article L218-54 |
| The reports drawn up in accordance with article L. 218-53 are authentic until proven otherwise. They are immediately forwarded to the public prosecutor by the enforcement officer who at the same time sends a copy to the departments concerned. |
| Article L218-55 |
| When the requirements of the investigation or information as well as the seriousness of the offense so require, the vessel, aircraft, machine or platform which was used to commit one of the offenses referred to in Articles L. 218 -48, L. 218-50, L. 218-51 and L. 218-52 can be immobilized by decision of the public prosecutor or the investigating judge seized. At any time, the competent judicial authority may order the lifting of the immobilization if a bond is provided, the amount of which and the terms of payment are fixed. The conditions of assignment, employment and return of the security are regulated in accordance with the provisions of Articles 142, |
| Article L218-56 |
| I. – Breaches of the provisions of this section are judged either by the competent court of the place of the infringement, or by that of the residence of the author of the infringement. II. – The following are also competent: 1 ° In the case of a vessel, machine or platform, either the court in whose jurisdiction it is registered if it is French, or that in whose jurisdiction it may be found if it is foreign, or if it is an unregistered machine or platform; 2 ° In the case of an aircraft, the court of the place of landing after the flight during which the offense was committed. III. – In the absence of another court, the Paris tribunal de grande instance is competent. |
| Article L218-57 |
| I. – Legal persons may be declared criminally responsible, under the conditions provided for by article 121-2 of the penal code, for breaches of the provisions of this section. II. – The penalties incurred by legal persons are: 1 ° The fine, in accordance with the terms set out in article 131-38 of the penal code; 2 ° The penalties mentioned in 2 °, 3 °, 4 °, 5 °, 6 °, 8 ° and 9 ° of article 131-39 of the same code. III. – The prohibition mentioned in 2 ° of article 131-39 of the penal code relates to the activity in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of which the offense was committed. |
