Commencement and interpretation

1.  These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Formal Investigations) Rules 1985 and shall come into operation on 1st August 1985.

2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires:—

“the Act of 1970” means the Merchant Shipping Act 1970;

“a formal investigation” means a formal investigation into a shipping casualty or incident under section 55 of the Act of 1970;

“an incident” means an incident of the kind described in section 55(1A) of the Act of 1970(1);

“officer” means an officer qualified for the purposes of section 43 of the Act of 1970(2) and includes a master, skipper, mate, second hand, deck officer, marine engineer officer and radio officer;

“re-hearing” means a re-hearing of a formal investigation;

“a shipping casualty” means a casualty of the kind described in section 55(1) of the Act of 1970(3);

“substantial criticism” means criticism which in the opinion of the wreck commissioner is substantial criticism;

“wreck commissioner” means, in the case of a formal investigation to be held in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, a wreck commissioner appointed for that purpose by the Lord Chancellor and in the case of a formal investigation to be held in Scotland a sheriff.

(2) Any period of time specified in these Rules by reference to days shall be exclusive of the first day and inclusive of the last day unless the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or any day appointed by law to be a bank holiday in that part of the United Kingdom where the formal investigation is to be held, in which case the time shall be reckoned exclusively of that day also.