Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

In moving the amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments A213, A214, A223 and A226. They are probing amendments to call into question the status of third-country vessels. As the Bill stands, an offence of damaging protected features of MCZs, under Clause 136, specifically does not apply, under Clause 137, to, ""anything done in relation to an MCZ lying beyond the seaward limits of the territorial sea by a person on a third country vessel". " Does the Minister agree that, as the Royal Yachting Association has argued, this, ""unfairly and unreasonably prejudices UK and member State vessels"?" According to the RYA, under Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea the coastal state has jurisdiction in the exclusive economic zone with regard to the protection and preservation of the marine environment. The convention does not prevent the UK from extending Clause 136 to have reference to third-country vessels. Can the Minister tell us whether this is the case? Can he account for the fact that it has not been included in the Bill? Does he not agree that it would be sensible to maximise protection and preservation of the marine environment and that inclusion of third-country vessels would be sensible and desirable? Clause 137 deals with exceptions to offences that contravene by-laws and orders or damage protected features of marine conservation zones. However, it does not include any reference to a situation whereby an offence may be committed even despite the best efforts of the person involved to avoid doing so. We have therefore tabled Amendment A214 to insert a new clause stating that, for any offence under Clause 135 on contravening by-laws or orders, the defendant is allowed to use as a defence the fact that they took "all reasonable precautions" and "exercised all due diligence" in order not to commit an offence. Does the Minister agree that there may be situations where an offence is committed despite the best intentions and most concerted efforts of those involved? Does he concede that a person should then be allowed to use this argument in their defence? The circumstances of this offence and the fact that all reasonable precautions were taken may have an impact on the severity of the penalty, or may at least bring up important considerations that should be taken into account. Therefore, we on these Benches think that it is important that this new clause be included in the Bill. The last two amendments in this group concern Clause 143, an interpretation clause, to which my noble friend the Duke of Montrose referred earlier. The clause says: ""‘England’ includes the English inshore region"." To that we propose to add, ""but excludes the English offshore region"." The clause also says: ""‘Wales’ includes the Welsh inshore region"." To that we propose to add, ""but excludes the Welsh offshore region"." Am I right, in both cases, that "inshore region" means up to 12 nautical miles, which is the limit of our jurisdiction? We have discussed this 12-mile issue before, but this, again, is probing, because Clause 137(4), about which I was talking earlier, refers to, ""anything done in relation to an MCZ lying beyond the seaward limits of the territorial sea by a person on a third country vessel"." What does that mean? It is not in the Clause 143 interpretation. Does it mean up to our 200-mile limit, does it mean as interpreted by the Royal Yachting Association, as per Article 56 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or what? We would like clarification. I beg to move.