ABSTRACT
The critical issue for Port State and, indeed, Flag State investigation, is that they are not examining a crime scene but a maritime accident. The sole purpose of an investigation is to establish the facts, without apportioning blame. In this context, international Regulations have been implemented into domestic law which compel the Master to co-operate in the collection of evidence so that investigations may be conducted more efficiently; but recent cases have demonstrated a trend in which the Master can actually be forced to incriminate themselves in the process, for the evidence gathered can be used against them in a criminal prosecution. This chapter examines the precise meaning of evidence for legal purposes, and what it has to establish, in order to deliver a conviction. In recent decades the aviation industry developed a policy known as Just Culture, which was designed to assure the interviewee’s co-operation safe from the risk of self-incrimination, and this chapter applies the lessons learned to illustrate the options for the maritime industry – and where it can go wrong.
