Regulation 20 Service of documents

This regulation has effect in relation to any notice, any notification and any other document authorised or required by any provision in these Regulations to be served on or given to any person.

Any such document may be given or served on any person—

A document given to or served on a person in accordance with paragraph (2)(e) must be in a form sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.

Where a document is given to or served on a person in accordance with paragraph (2)(e), the document is, unless the contrary is proved, to be deemed to have been given to or served on that person at the time at which the electronic communication is transmitted except where transmission is made outside that person’s normal business hours, in which case it shall be taken to have been given or served on the next working day, and in this subsection, “working day” means any day other than—

A document authorised or required to be given to or served on a person by the Secretary of State or an authorised person is also to be treated as given or served where—

Where a document is given to or served on a person in accordance with paragraph (2C), the document is, unless the contrary is proved, to be deemed to have been given to or served on that person at the same time as the notice required to be given under paragraph (2C)(d) is given.

A person who has supplied another person with an address for service using electronic communications and has agreed to accept service of documents in a certain form in accordance with paragraph (2)(e) may give notice withdrawing that address or that agreement or both.

A person who has an agreement with the Secretary of State or an authorised person under paragraph (2C)(a) may give notice withdrawing that agreement.

A withdrawal under paragraph (2E) or (2F) shall take effect on the later of—

A notice under paragraph (2E) or (2F) must be given to the person to whom the address was supplied or with whom the agreement was made.

Oral notice is not sufficient for the purposes of paragraph (2E) or (2F).

Any document authorised to be given to or served on a body corporate may be given to or served on the secretary, clerk or similar officer of that body.

For the purposes of this regulation and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 M1 (service of documents by post) in its application to this regulation, the proper address of any person to whom or on whom any document is to be given or served is his usual or last known address or place of business, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere except that in the case of a body corporate or its clerk or similar officer it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of that body in the United Kingdom, or if it has no office in the United Kingdom, of its principal office wherever that may be.

In the case of a person registered under any of the United Kingdom registration provisions as the owner of any ship so registered, the address for the time being recorded in relation to him in the register shall also be treated as his proper address for the purposes of this regulation and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978.

If the person to or on whom any document mentioned in paragraph (1) is to be given or served has notified the Secretary of State of an address within the United Kingdom, other than an address determined under paragraph (4) or (5), as the one at which he or someone else on his behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document, that address shall also be treated for the purposes of this regulation and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 as his proper address.

Any document mentioned in paragraph (1) shall, where there are two or more owners of a ship who are registered under any of the United Kingdom registration provisions, be treated as duly served on the company where it is served upon one of those owners.

Where any document mentioned in paragraph (1) is to is to be served on the master of a ship, it shall be treated as duly served if it is left on board that ship with the person being or appearing to be in command or charge of the ship.