MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES [ S.L.234.11 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.11
MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES RULES
13th August, 1974
LEGAL NOTICE 94 of 1974.
Title.
Rules.
Interpretation.
Cap. 234.
"Court" means the Court of Magistrates;
"inquiring officer" means the person appointed by the Minister to
hold a preliminary inquiry under article 313 of the Act;
"investigation" means a formal investigation into a shipping
casualty held under article 314 of the Act;
"Minister" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Act.
General 
provisions.
3. (1) Where no other provision is made by these rules, the
procedure is regulated by the laws ordinarily governing the
procedure of the Court when sitting as a Court of Criminal
Jurisdiction.
(2) Subpoenas to witnesses shall be issued by the inquiring
officer, and such subpoenas shall, as far as practicable, be in the
form used for summoning witnesses before the Court and shall be
subject to the same rules.
Notice of 
investigation.
4. (1) When an investigation has been ordered the inquiring
officer may cause a notice, to be called a notice of investigation, to
be served upon the owner, master, and officers of the ship, as well
as upon any person who in his opinion ought to be served with such
notice.
(2) The notice shall contain a statement of the questions
which, on the information then in possession of the inquiring
officer, he intends to raise during the hearing of the investigaton,
and shall be in the Form No. 1 in the First Schedule, with such
modifications as circumstances may require.
(3) The inquiring officer may, at any time before the hearing
of the investigation, by a subsequent notice amend, add to, or omit
any of the questions specified in the notice of investigation.
(4) The inquiring officer, the owner, the master and any officer
of the ship or other person upon whom a notice of investigation has
been served, shall be deemed to be parties to the proceedings.
(5) Any person who shows, to the satisfaction of the Court,
that he has an interest in the investigation shall have a right to
appear, and any other person may by leave of the Court appear, and
such persons shall thereupon become parties to the proceedings.
Notice to produce.
2 [ S.L.234.11 MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES
produce any documents (saving all just exceptions) relating to the
matters in question, and which are in the possession or under the
control of such other party; and, if any such notice is not complied
with, secondary evidence of the contents of the documents may be
given by the party who gave the notice.
Affidavits.  6. Affidavits and solemn declarations may, by leave of the
Court, be used as evidence at the hearing.
Proceedings in 
Court.
7. (1) Notwithstanding the absence of any of the parties upon
whom a notice of investigation has been served, the Court may
proceed with the investigation at the place and time appointed for
the holding of such investigation.
(2) The proceedings shall commence with the production of
witnesses by the inquiring officer and their examination by him.
(3) Such witnesses, after being examired by the inquiring
officer, may be cross-examined by the other parties in such order as
the Court may direct, and may then be re-examined by the said
officer.
(4) Questions asked and documents tendered as evidence in the
course of the examination of witnesses shall not be open to
objection merely on the grounds that they do or may raise questions
which are not contained in, or which vary from, the statement of the
case, or questions specified in the notice of investigation or
subsequent notices referred to in sub-rule 4(3).
(5) When the examination of the witnesses produced by the
inquiring officer has been concluded, the inquiring officer shall
state in Court the questions in reference to the casualty and to the
conduct of the officers of the ship or other persons connected
therewith upon which the opinion of the Court is desired, and, in
framing the questions for the opinion of the Court, the inquiring
officer may make such modifications in, additions to, or omissions
from the questions in the notice of investigation or subsequent
notices referred to in sub-rule 4(3) as, having regard to the
evidence which has been given, the inquiring officer may think fit.
(6) After the questions for the opinion of the Court have been
stated, the Court shall proceed to hear the parties to the
investigation, and determine upon the questions so stated.
(7) Each party to the investigation shall be entitled to address
the Court, either personally or through an advocate, to produce
witnesses, or recall any of the witnesses who have already been
examined for further examination, and generally to adduce
evidence.
(8) The parties shall be heard and their witnesses shall be
examined, cross-examined and re-examined in such order as the
Court may direct.
(9) Any of the parties may also, with the permission of the
Court, produce and examine further witnesses, who shall be subject
to cross-examination and re-examination.
(10) When the whole of the evidence in relation to the questions
for the opinion of the Court has been concluded, any of the parties
MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES [ S.L.234.11 3
who desire so to do may address the Court upon the evidence.
(11) The Court may adjourn the investigation from time to time
and from place to place.
(12) The decision of the Court shall always be given in writing
and read in open court.
(13) At the conclusion of the investigation, the Court shall
report to the Prime Minister, and the report shall be in the Form No.
2 in the First Schedule, with such modifications as circumstances
may require.
(14) The Court may order that the costs and expenses of the
investigation, or any part thereof, be paid by any of the parties to
the proceedings.
Appeals.
of Appeal under article 325 of the Act shall be made according to
the following provisions of this rule:
( a ) the party intending to appeal shall within fifteen
working days, other than Saturdays, from the date on
which the decision is given by the Court, file before
such Court a notice of his intention to appeal and shall
serve on such of the other parties to the proceedings as
he may consider to be directly affected by the appeal a
copy  such notice;
( b ) such party shall, within fifteen working days, other
than Saturdays, of the filing of the notice referred to in
paragraph ( a ), file before the Court of Appeal an
application for the reversal or modification, as the case
may be, of the decision given by the first Court,
containing the general grounds of the appeal and shall
serve a copy of such application on all the other parties
referred to in the said paragraph ( a ) and the Registrar
of the Court of Appeal shall thereupon put the appeal
on the list for hearing on such date as the Court may
appoint;
( c ) where the appeal is made by any party other than the
Minister, the appellant shall, before the appeal is
heard, give such security for the costs of the appeal, by
way of deposit of money or otherwise, in such an
amount as the Regi,strar of the Court of Appeal may
direct;
( d ) the Court of Appeal may, if it thinks fit, order any
person, other than the parties served with a copy of the
application of appeal, to be added as a party or parties
to the proceedings for the purposes of the appeal, on
such terms with respect to costs and otherwise as the
said Court may think fit;
( e ) the evidence taken before the Court from whose
decision the appeal is brought shall be proved before
the Court of Appeal by a copy of the notes of the Court
or by such other materials as the Court of Appeal
thinks expedient, and a copy of the evidence as well as
4 [ S.L.234.11 MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES
of the report to the Minister containing the decision
from which the appeal is brought shall be transmitted
by the Registrar of the first Court to the Registrar of
the Court of Appeal on the request of the latter after
the filing of the application to appeal;
( f ) the Court of Appeal shall have full power to receive
further evidence on questions of fact as well as with
respect to matters which have occurred since the date
of the decision from which the appeal is brought;
( g ) the Court of Appeal shall have power to make such
order as to the whole or any part of the costs of and
occasioned by the appeal as the Court rnay think just;
( h ) subject to the foregoing provisions of this rule, every
appeal shall be conducted under and in accordance
with the general rules and regulations applicable to
ordinary prcceedings before the Court of Appeal;
( i ) on the conclusion of an appeal, the Court of Appeal
shall give its decision in open court and shall send to
the Minister a report of the case in such form as the
said Court may think fit.
Rehearing by order 
of the Minister.
9. (1) Where the Minister directs a rehearing under article
325 of the Act, he shall cause such reasonable notice to be given to
the parties whom he considers to be affected by the re-hearing as
the circumstances af the case may, in the opinion of the Minister,
permit.
(2) The provisions laid dawn in rule 8( d ), ( e ), ( f ), ( g ), ( h ) and
( i ) shall apply to a re-hearing as if it were an appeal, and, where the
Court re-hearing the case is not the Court of Appeal, as if such
Court were the Court of Appeal.
Appointment of 
assessors.
10. (1) Subject to these rules, assessors for investigations into
shipping casualties shall be appointed by the Court out of a list of
persons for the time being approved by the Minister.
(2) If any investigation involves, or appears likely to involve,
any question as to the cancellation or suspension of the certificate
of a master, mate or engineer, there shall be appointed from the list
af assessors referred to in sub-rule (1) not less than two assessors
from Class I and Class II or from either of these classes described
in the Second Schedule.
(3) Subject to any special appointment or appointments which
the Court may think it expedient to make in any case where special
circumstances appear to it to require a departure from these rules,
saving in any case compliance with the requirements of sub-rule
(2), assessors shall be appointed as follows:
( a ) where the investigation involves, or appears likely to
involve, the cancellation or suspension of the
certificate of a master or mate, but not of an engineer,
two at least of the assessors shall be appointed from
Class I;
( b ) where the investigation involves, or appears likely to
involve, the cancellation or suspension of the
MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES [ S.L.234.11 5
certificate of an engineer, one at least of the assessors
shall be appointed from Class II.
Fees to assessors.
shall be fixed by the Court, having regard to the services performed
by them.
FIRST SCHEDULE
FORMS
Form No. 1: Notice of Investigation
Rule 4(2)
To ............................................. master, mate, engineer, etc., of
.................................... or ................................. belonging to the
ship .......................... of ............................... .
I hereby give you notice that the Court of Magistrates has
ordered a formal investigation into the circumstances attending the
.......................................... and that subjoined hereto is a copy of a
report (or statement of the case) upon which the said investigation
has been ordered. I further give you notice to produce to the Court
your certificate, the log-books of the vessel and any other
documents relevant to this case, which may be in your possession.
I have further to give you notice that on the information at
present obtained the questions annexed hereto are those upon which
it appears desirable, and upon which the undersigned proposes to
take the opinion of the Court; but these questions will be subject to
alteration, addition, omission or amendment by the undersigned at
the investigation after the witnesses called by him have been
examined.
Dated this ................ day of ......................., ............. .
Inquiring Officer.
Form No. 2: Report of Court
Rule 7(13)
In the matter of a formal investigation held at .............................
on the ...................................... (here state all the days on which
the Court sat) days of ...................., .............., before ....................,
assisted by .................................................. into the circumstances
attending the ............................................................ .
The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances
attending the abovementioned shipping casualty, finds, for the
reasons stated in the annex hereto, that the (here state finding of the
Court).
Dated this ............... day of ......................, ............. .
Magistrate
We (or I) concur in the above report.
6 [ S.L.234.11 MERCHANT SHIPPING CASUALTIES
Assessor
Assessor
Annex to the Report
(Here state fully the circumstances of the case, the causes of the
casualty, and the conduct of any persons implicated therein, and
whether the certificate of any offlcer is either suspended or
cancelled, and, if so, for what reasons).
SECOND SCHEDULE
Rule 10(2)
Class I - Masters
Holders of a certificate of competency as Master of an
ocean-going ship granted or recognised under article 93 or 94 of the
Act, with at least three years’ service in any certificated capacity
and two years service as a certificated Master in command of a
merchant ship.
Class II - Engineers
Holders of a certificate of competency as first-class engineer
granted or recognised under article 93 or 94 of the Act, with at least
three years’ service as an engineer in a merchant ship and two
years’ service as a chief engineer.
