belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

2 JUIN 2012. - Federal Agency for Investigation of Navigation Accidents Act (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. This Act partially transposes Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 establishing the basic principles for the investigation of accidents in the marine transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and the Council.
Art. 3. For the purposes of this Act:
1° "competent investigative body": an investigative body of a Member State of the European Economic Area that is designated as an investigative body in accordance with Article 8 of the Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 establishing the basic principles governing the investigation of accidents in the marine transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and the Council;
2° "MIK": the Maritime Information Hub referred to in Article 3, 7°, of the Cooperation Agreement of 8 July 2005 between the Federal State and the Flemish Region concerning the establishment of a Coast Guard structure and cooperation within it;
3° IMO: the International Maritime Organization;
4° "IMO Code for the Conduct of Inquiries on Accidents and Sea Incidents": IMO Code for the Conduct of Inquiries on Accidents and Sea Incidents (IMO-code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents) annexed to IMO General Assembly resolution A.849(20) of 27 November 1997, as updated;
5° "IMO Code of Recommended International Standards and Practices for a Safety Investigation into a Sea Accident or a Sea Incident": the recommended International Standards and Practices Code for a Safety Investigation into a Marine Casualty or Marine Incident, annexed to resolution MSC.255(84) of May 16, 2008
6° "Belgian marine waters": the territorial sea, the ports of the coast and the lower sea Escaut whose limits are fixed by the King, the port of Ghent whose limits are fixed by the King, the Belgian part of the Terneuzen Canal in Ghent, the ports located on the Belgian part of the Terneuzen Canal in Ghent whose limits are fixed by the King and the Zeugese-Bruges
7° "Marine zones": the Belgian marine waters, the exclusive economic zone as defined and delimited in the Act of 22 April 1999 concerning the exclusive economic zone of Belgium in the North Sea, and the continental shelf as defined and delimited in the Act of 13 June 1969 on the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources of the territorial sea and the continental shelf;
8° "inland waters": Belgian public waters that are intended for or used for navigation and are not part of Belgian marine waters;
9° "navigation vessel": a vessel or inland navigation vessel;
10° "ship": any navigation vessel at sea carrying people or things, fishing, towing, dredging or any other lucrative navigation operation or intended for it;
11° "Inland navigation vessel": any navigation vessel that, because of its construction, is exclusively or principally used or suitable for navigation in inland waters;
12° "roulier transborder": a vessel intended to carry passengers, equipped with devices that allow road or rail vehicles to board and to disembark by rolling, and carrying more than twelve passengers;
13° "high-speed passenger equipment": a navigation vessel intended to carry more than twelve passengers, capable of reaching a maximum speed, in meters per second (m/s), equal to or greater than 3.7 0.1667, " being the volume of the displacement corresponding to the expected flotation (m)³), excluding equipment whose shell, in mode of operation without drawing water, is completely supported above the surface of the water by aerodynamic forces generated by the effect of the soil;
14° "navigational accident": an event or sequence of events that resulted in one of the following events, which occurred in relation to the activities of a ship:
(a) the death or serious injury of a person caused by or related to the operation of a ship, or
(b) the fall overboard of a person who has been caused by the vessel's movements or in relation to these movements, or
(c) loss, alleged loss or abandonment of a ship, or
(d) material damage to a vessel or
(e) the failure or greed of a vessel or its questioning in a collision, or
(f) material damage caused by or related to the operation of a vessel, or
(g) damage to the environment resulting from damage to one or more vessels caused by the operation of one or more vessels;
15° "serious navigation accident": a navigational accident that is not considered to be a very serious navigation accident and which, as a result of a fire, explosion, collision, failure, contact, damage due to the big weather, damage caused by the ice, cracking or other occurrence of a suspected shell
(a) damage to the vessel's airworthiness structure, or
(b) pollution, regardless of the extent, or
(c) a failure requiring towing or assisting ground services;
16° "very serious navigation accident": a navigation accident that resulted in:
(a) the total loss of the vessel, or
(b) loss of life, or
(c) severe pollution;
17° "incident": an event caused by the operation of the vessel or related to the vessel and which endangers the vessel or person, or following which serious damage could be caused either to the vessel or its structure or to the environment;
18° "safety investigation": an investigation into a navigational accident or incident, conducted to prevent future accidents and incidents involving a vessel, including data collection and analysis, identification of causal factors and the formulation of necessary safety recommendations;
19° "State primarily responsible for the security investigation": the State assuming responsibility for the conduct of the security investigation in accordance with the mutual agreement between the States with important interests at stake;
20° "serious injuries": injuries sustained by a person during a navigational accident and resulting in in incapacity for more than 72 hours, this incapacity beginning within seven days after the date on which the injuries were caused;
21° "State with important interests at stake": a state:
(a) that is the flag State of the vessel under investigation, or
(b) in the inland waters or in the territorial sea of which a navigation accident occurred, or
(c) in which a navigational accident caused or threatened to cause serious harm to the environment of the State or to the maritime areas on which it is entitled to exercise its jurisdiction under international law, or
(d) in which the consequences of a navigational accident have caused or threatened to cause serious harm either to the State itself or to artificial islands, installations or works on which it is entitled to exercise its jurisdiction, or
(e) in which a navigational accident has cost the life or inflicted serious injuries on nationals of that State, or
(f) that has important information that may be useful to the investigation, or
(g) last visited by a routing trans-shipper or high-speed passenger equipment that is involved in a navigation accident or incident outside the territorial waters of the European Economic Area member States;
(h) which, for any other reason, argues that it has interests that are deemed important by the State responsible for the security investigation;
22° "IMO Guidelines on the Equitable Treatment of Seafarers in the Event of a Sea Accident": the Guidelines annexed to IMO Resolution LEG.3(91) of 27 April 2006 as approved by the Board of Directors of the International Labour Organization at its 296^e session of 12-16 June 2006, entitled "IMO guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers in the event of a maritime accident";
23° "VDR": a travel data recorder conforming to the performance standards of resolution A.861 (20) of the IMO General Assembly of 27 November 1997 and Resolution MSC.163(78) of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee and the test standards defined by IEC Standard No. 61996;
24° "safety recommendation": any proposal, including registration and control:
(a) by the competent investigative body that conducts or directs the security investigation on the basis of information arising out of that investigation; or, where applicable,
(b) by the European Commission on the basis of a brief analysis of the information and results of the security investigations conducted;
25° 'EMCIP database': the European electronic database established by the European Commission and entitled 'European Marine Casualty Information Platform - EMCIP';
26° "the Minister": the Minister who has the Maritime Mobility in his powers;
27° "investigators": the personnel of the federal agency for the investigation of navigational accidents referred to in section 7, responsible for conducting the safety investigation;
28° "Belgian ship": a ship authorized to beat Belgian flag;
29° "operator": the natural or legal person who operates, as the owner or on behalf of the owner or as a bare-hull charterer, one or more Belgian ships.
Art. 4. This Act applies to navigational accidents and incidents that:
1° involve Belgian ships, or
2° occurs in marine areas, or
3° occur in inland waters and involve ships, or
4° stake other important interests of the Kingdom of Belgium.
This Act does not apply to navigational accidents and incidents involving only:
1° of warships or intended for the carriage of troops and other vessels belonging to or operated by a State and used exclusively for non-commercial governmental purposes;
2° vessels that are not powered by mechanical means, primitive timber vessels, yachts and pleasure craft used for non-commercial purposes, unless they are or will be equipped with a crew and if they carry or transport more than twelve passengers for commercial purposes;
3° of inland navigation vessels operated on inland waters;
4° of fishing vessels less than 15 metres long;
5° of fixed offshore drilling units.
Art. 5. The purpose of this Act is to improve maritime safety and the prevention of pollution by ships, thereby reducing the risks of navigational accidents and incidents in the future:
1° by facilitating the timely organization of security investigations and a proper analysis of navigational accidents and incidents, in order to determine their causes;
2° ensuring that the findings of security investigations and remedial proposals are accurately and in a timely manner reported;
3° by ensuring that it is verified whether or not it is followed up on safety recommendations and by examining corrective actions taken to provide additional security recommendations.
Art. 6. The purpose of security investigations conducted under this Act is not to determine responsibilities or to assign faults.
Art. 7. An investigative body is created, known as the "Federal Organization for the Investigation of Navigation Accidents" (in abbreviated OFEAN).
The OFEAN is autonomous and functionally independent, in terms of its organization, its legal structure and its method of decision, any party or organization whose interests may be incompatible with the tasks entrusted to it.
Art. 8. § 1^er. The King determines, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, the organization, composition and operation of the OFEAN as well as the skills of the OFEAN staff.
The minister ensures the proper operation of the OFEAN.
§ 2. The OFEAN consists of at least one staff member who is competent to lead the OFEAN as director and conduct security investigations and who depends on the minister's authority.
§ 3. OFEAN staff and designated external experts are subject to professional secrecy with respect to information obtained during the performance of their duties.
Art. 9. § 1^er. The OFEAN is competent to conduct safety investigations into navigational accidents and incidents referred to in Article 4. The security investigation is conducted in accordance with the IMO Code for the Conduct of Investigations of Marine Accidents and Incidents and the IMO Code of Recommended International Standards and Practices for a Safety Investigation of an Accident or Sea Incident, unless this Act otherwise provides.
§ 2. Without prejudice to the provisions of § 1^er, the OFEAN is competent to examine how individuals, legal persons or authorities, whose actions or negligence have contributed, according to the OFEAN, to the occurrence of the navigation accident or incident, have followed the safety recommendations. The OFEAN may review the corrective actions taken to provide additional security recommendations.
OFEAN shall report at least once a year in writing on the examination referred to in paragraph 1^er to the House of Representatives as determined by the King.
§ 3. The OFEAN may extend its activities in the collection and analysis of data relating to the safety of navigation, particularly for prevention purposes, provided that these activities do not adversely affect its independence or engage its responsibility on regulatory, administrative or normative issues.
The OFEAN may combine its tasks under this Act with the investigation of events other than navigational accidents and incidents, provided that such investigations do not compromise its independence.
Art. 10. § 1^er. The OFEAN conducts a security investigation after a very serious navigation accident:
1° involving a Belgian ship, regardless of the location of the navigation accident;
2° occurring in marine areas or inland waters, regardless of the vessel's flag involved in the navigation accident;
3° affecting important interests of Belgium, regardless of the location of the navigation accident or the flag of the vessel involved.
§ 2. In the case of a serious navigation accident, the OFEAN conducts a screening assessment to determine whether or not a security investigation is required.
When the OFEAN decides on the basis of the screening assessment not to conduct a security investigation after a serious accident, it sends its reasoned decision to the Minister and the European Commission.
§ 3. In the case of any navigation or incident other than that referred to in § 1^er or § 2, the OFEAN decides whether or not to conduct a security investigation.
§ 4. In the decisions referred to in § 2, paragraph 2 and § 3, the OFEAN takes into account the seriousness of the navigational accident or incident, the type of vessel and/or cargo, and the possibility that the findings of the security investigation may lead to the prevention of navigational accidents and future incidents.
Art. 11. § 1^er. In principle, each navigation or incident accident is the subject of only one investigation.
In the case of security investigations involving at least two competent investigative bodies, including the OFEAN, the latter cooperates with the competent investigative bodies of States with important interests at stake in order to quickly decide which of them will be the competent investigative body that conducts the security investigation. The OFEAN is working hard to agree on the investigation procedure. As part of this agreement, the competent investigative bodies of other States with important interests at stake benefit from the same rights and access to witnesses and evidence as the OFEAN. The OFEAN takes into consideration the views of the competent investigative bodies of States with important interests at stake.
The OFEAN limits the conduct of parallel security investigations into the same navigation accident or incident strictly to exceptional cases. In such cases, the OFEAN notify the European Commission of the reasons for such parallel investigations. The OFEAN cooperates with relevant investigative bodies conducting parallel security investigations. In particular, the OFEAN exchanges all relevant information collected during its investigation with the relevant security investigation bodies, in particular in order to develop, as far as possible, common conclusions.
The OFEAN refrains from any action that could unduly prevent, suspend or delay the conduct of a security investigation.
§ 2. Without prejudice to § 1^er, the OFEAN remains responsible for the security investigation and coordination with other relevant investigative bodies of States with significant interests at stake until the competent investigative body primarily responsible for the security investigation has been designated by mutual agreement.
§ 3. Without prejudice to its obligations under this Act and international law, the OFEAN may, on a case-by-case basis, delegate to another competent investigative body, by mutual agreement, the task of conducting a security investigation or specific tasks under this investigation.
§ 4. When a rudder trans-shipper or high-speed passenger equipment is involved in a navigational accident or incident, the safety investigation procedure is initiated by the OFEAN if the navigation accident or incident occurred in the marine areas or, if it occurred in the middle of the sea and if Belgium is the last country visited by the routing trans-shiper or the high-speed passenger gear. The OFEAN remains responsible for the security investigation and coordination with the relevant State investigative bodies with significant interests at stake until the competent investigative body primarily responsible for the security investigation has been agreed.
§ 5. In cases of security investigations involving at least two competent investigative bodies, including the OFEAN, the cost of its activities is not charged.
In cases where OFEAN does not participate in the security investigation and where it is called upon to assist it, OFEAN agrees to reimbursement of costs with the competent investigative bodies associated with the security investigation.
Art. 12. If, in accordance with Article 11, the OFEAN is the competent investigative body responsible for the security investigation, it determines the scope and practical modalities of the conduct of security investigations in collaboration with the competent State investigative bodies with important interests at stake, in the manner that it seems most appropriate to it to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 5 and in a manner that prevents future navigational accidents or incidents.
Art. 13. The cooperation of OFEAN to a security investigation conducted by a third country with significant interests at stake is without prejudice to the obligations under this Act that relate to the conduct of security investigations and investigation reports.
When a third country with significant interests at stake conducts a security investigation in which the OFEAN participates, the OFEAN may decide not to conduct a security investigation in parallel, provided that the security investigation conducted by the third country is conducted in accordance with the IMO Code for the conduct of investigations into accidents and sea incidents.
Art. 14. When conducting security investigations, the OFEAN follows the common methodology for investigating accidents and incidents of seas, defined in accordance with Article 2, item (e), Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and Council of 27 June 2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency. OFEAN investigators may deviate from this methodology in a specific case where the need may be justified, according to their professional judgment, and if necessary to achieve the objectives of the investigation.
Art. 15. § 1^er. In order to cover the costs of creation, staff and operation of the OFEAN, an annual contribution of 800,000 euros is due to the OFEAN.
The annual contribution referred to in the first paragraph is due by the operators and, with respect to ships under foreign flag, by the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge, in which they coil.
§ 2. The operator's annual contribution is EUR 0.0126 per gross tonnage of the vessels of which it is the operator of 1^er January of the year the annual contribution is due.
The operator's annual contribution, referred to in the first paragraph, is rounded to the upper unit if the decimal part is equal to or greater than 50 eurocents. The contribution is rounded down if this part is less than fifty eurocents.
The operator's annual contribution is a minimum of 25 euros and a maximum of 1,500 euros per Belgian ship of which it is the operator.
§ 3. The joint annual contribution of the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge is equal to the annual contribution referred to in § 1^erParagraph 1^erdiminished of the joint annual contribution of operators of Belgian ships referred to in § 2.
The annual contribution detached from the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge is defined on the basis of the following formula:
The amount of the annual contribution referred to in § 3, paragraph 1^er, multiplied by the number obtained by dividing respectively the total of the gross gauges of the ships under the foreign flag which mold respectively in the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend or Zeebrugge, by the sum of these totals of raw gauges.
The total gross gauges of foreign flag vessels for the second calendar year prior to the year in which the annual contribution is due are considered.
The annual contribution of the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge, calculated separately according to the formula of the second paragraph, is rounded to the upper unit if the decimal part is equal or amounts to more than fifty eurocents. It is rounded down if this part is less than fifty eurocents.
§ 4. The annual contribution referred to in § 1^erParagraph 1^er, is adapted annually to 1^er January to the Consumer Price Index based on the following formula:
The amount of the annual contribution referred to in § 1^erParagraph 1^ermultiplied by the new index and divided by the initial index.
The new index is the Consumer Price Index applicable to November of the year prior to the year in which the annual contribution amount is adjusted in accordance with paragraph 1^er.
The starting index is the Consumer Price Index of May 2011.
§ 5. The amount by gross gauge referred to in § 2, paragraph 1^er, is adapted annually to 1^er January to the Consumer Price Index based on the following formula:
The amount by gross gauge referred to in § 2, paragraph 1^ermultiplied by the new index and divided by the initial index.
The new index represents the consumer price index for the month of November prior to the year in which the amount is adjusted in accordance with paragraph 1^er.
The starting index is the Consumer Price Index of May 2011.
§ 6. The annual contribution of the operator, referred to in § 2 and the annual contribution of the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge referred to separately in § 3, paragraph 2, shall be paid no later than 1^er June of the year in which annual contributions are due.
Art. 16. § 1^er. Pursuant to section 62 of the Act of 22 May 2003 on the organization of the federal government's budget and accounting, a budgetary fund for the operation of the federal agency for the investigation of navigation accidents is created.
§ 2. In the table annexed to the Organic Law of 27 December 1990 creating budgetary funds, as amended by the Law of 24 December 1993, section 33 - Mobility and Transport, is supplemented as follows:
“12: Name of the organic budget fund:
Fund for the operation of the federal body of investigation on navigation accidents
Nature of income affected:
The annual dependant contribution of operators of Belgian ships and, in respect of ships under foreign flag, of the ports of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Ostend and Zeebrugge, as participation in the costs of creation, personnel and operation of any kind of the federal body of investigation on navigation accidents, as referred to in Article 7 of the Law of 2 June 2012 on the federal body of investigation on navigation accidents
Nature of authorized expenditures:
the creation, personnel and operating expenses of any kind relating to the federal body of investigation of navigational accidents, as referred to in section 7 of the Act of June 2, 2012 on the federal body of investigation of navigational accidents. »
§ 3. The balance available on the Federal Navigation Accident Investigation Agency's Operating Fund as at December 31 of each fiscal year will be disaffected on December 1^er July of the following year. The amount of disassignment in commitments and liquidations will be calculated on the basis of the available balance in commitments.
Art. 17. On or before September 30 of each year, the OFEAN submits an annual report to the Minister, the House of Representatives and the Parliaments of the Regions in which it reports on its operation and the security investigations it conducted the previous year, the security recommendations that have been made and the corrective actions that have been taken as a result of previous security recommendations.
OFEAN makes this annual report available electronically to the public.
Art. 18. § 1^er. UNIKOM, any authority, officer or public official who, in the course of his or her duties, is aware of a navigational accident or incident, immediately informs the OFEAN and provides all relevant information and, where appropriate, a copy of the minutes and all other relevant documents.
In the case of a navigational accident or incident involving a Belgian ship, the master, owner, charterer, manager or operator of that vessel shall notify the OFEAN immediately and shall provide all relevant information and, where appropriate, a copy of the minutes and all other relevant documents.
§ 2. In the case of a navigational accident or an incident involving a Belgian ship and other vessels, the OFEAN immediately notify the flag State of the other ship involved in the navigation accident.
§ 3. If the OFEAN conducts a security investigation into a navigational accident or incident, it shall immediately notify the competent investigative bodies of States with significant interests at stake.
Art. 19. If, pursuant to Article 11, the OFEAN is the competent investigative body responsible for the security investigation, the OFEAN may authorize, at the request of an investigative body of a State with significant interests at stake, one or more representatives of the relevant investigative body participating in the inquiry. The OFEAN may make an identical request to the competent investigative bodies responsible for the security investigation, if Belgium is a State with important interests at stake.
Representatives referred to in paragraph 1^er may be assisted by experts.
Representatives and experts referred to in subparagraphs 1^er and 2 have access to the data and information collected during the security investigation, provided that they undertake to be discreet and that they are not required in the States or countries they represent to give greater publicity to the data as provided for in this Act. They provide the OFEAN with all relevant information they have in their possession.
Art. 20. The OFEAN can participate in a security investigation conducted outside Belgium by a competent investigative body.
Art. 21. The OFEAN, where applicable in consultation with the examining magistrate, sets out the terms for:
1° the provision and preservation, or not, by the OFEAN of the goods concerned by the navigation accident or the incident for the duration of the security investigation or as long as the Director of the OFEAN referred to in Article 8, § 2, the judge necessary;
2° the preservation of the property involved in the navigation accident or the incident that was taken by the OFEAN for the security investigation;
3° the return of the goods concerned by the navigation accident or the incident that were taken by the OFEAN for the security investigation;
4° the destruction of the property involved in the navigation accident or the incident that was carried away by the OFEAN for the security investigation for safety or public health reasons;
5° the recovery of the goods affected by the navigation accident or the incident for further investigation by the OFEAN.
It is prohibited to contaminate, damage, destroy, remove, move without the authorization of the OFEAN or to subtract in any way from the security investigation conducted by the OFEAN, the goods involved in the navigation accident or the incident.
Art. 22. The OFEAN begins as soon as possible the security investigation and, in any event, within two months after the occurrence of the navigation accident or incident.
Art. 23. The King determines the form and content of the map of legitimation of OFEAN investigators.
Art. 24. The investigators of the OFEAN or another competent investigative body, to which the OFEAN has delegated the conduct of the security investigation in accordance with Article 11, § 3, shall, where appropriate in collaboration with the judicial investigation authorities, exercise the following powers to receive all relevant information necessary for the conduct of the security investigation and are entitled to:
1° freely access to the place of the navigational accident or incident as well as to facilities, premises, parts, vessel, content and wreckage or structure, including the living part of a vessel, cargo, equipment and debris. The entry into a dwelling, whether on board or not of a ship, shall be carried out only with the consent of the occupant or with the prior authorization of the investigating judge;
2° enter, if applicable, at any time of day or night in the places referred to in 1° with the assistance of the police services under the conditions referred to in 1°;
3° be accompanied by persons they have designated for this purpose;
4° conduct an immediate survey of indices, debris or elements for examination or analysis;
5° require information;
6° immediately ensure the identification of evidence and ensure the controlled search and removal of wrecks, debris or other materials for examination or analysis;
7° request the examination or analysis of the elements referred to in 6° and have free access to the results of these tests or analyses;
8° freely consult, copy and use all recorded information and data of interest, including information collected by the VDR, relating to a vessel, voyage, cargo, crew or any other person, object, situation or circumstance;
9° freely access the results of the examination of the bodies of the victims or the results of the tests of the samples carried out on these bodies;
10° to request and obtain free access to the results of the examination of persons involved in the operation of a ship or any other person concerned, or to the results of the analysis made from the sampling of such persons;
11° hearing the witnesses in the absence of any person who may be considered to be of interest in obstructing the security investigation;
12° obtain the registers of visits and useful information held by the Federal State, the flag State, the shipowners, classification societies or any other party concerned, when these parties or their representatives are established in Belgium;
13° seek assistance from the competent authorities of the Federal State, including inspectors of navigation of the flag State and the port State, and of MIK.
Art. 25. § 1^er. Each person is required to provide to an investigator, within the reasonable time that the investigator has established, any collaboration that the investigator may reasonably require in the exercise of his or her skills.
If the person who discloses information makes the request, they are not made public.
§ 2. Investigators and external experts shall take the necessary measures to ensure the anonymity of witnesses of a navigational accident if requested by them.
Art. 26. § 1^er. Without prejudice to the provisions of the Privacy Protection Act of 8 December 1992 in respect of personal data processing, the OFEAN ensures that the information below is not disclosed for purposes other than the security investigation, unless the OFEAN decides only a higher public interest, it justifies its disclosure:
1° all testimony of witnesses and other statements, records and notes recorded or received by the OFEAN during the security investigation;
2 the records revealing the identity of those who testified in the security investigation;
3° information relating to persons involved in the navigation accident or the incident that are particularly sensitive and of a private nature, including information about their health.
§ 2. The draft reports referred to in Article 28 and the information collected by the OFEAN for security investigations are not public.
Art. 27. It is prohibited, after a navigational accident or incident, to destroy or eliminate any related information.
Art. 28. § 1^er. The security investigations carried out under this Act result in the publication of a report, accessible to the public via a website, presented according to a model defined by the OFEAN and in accordance with the content defined by the King.
The OFEAN may decide that a safety investigation that does not concern a very serious or serious navigational accident, as the case may be, and whose findings are not likely to lead to the prevention of navigational accidents and future incidents will result in the publication of a simplified report, accessible to the public via a website.
§ 2. The OFEAN makes every effort to present to the public, and in particular to the navigation sector, the report referred to in § 1^erincluding its conclusions and any safety recommendation, within 12 months of the day of the navigation accident or incident. If it is impossible to present the report referred to in § 1^er within this period, an intermediate report, accessible to the public via a website, is prepared within 12 months of the date of the navigation accident.
§ 3. The OFEAN sends a copy of the report, the simplified report or the intermediate report referred to in §§ 1^er and 2, to the European Commission, the Minister and the parties concerned. The OFEAN takes into account the technical remarks that the European Commission could make on the reports referred to in § 1^er, by not affecting the substance of the conclusions, in order to improve the quality of these reports in the best way possible to achieve the objective of Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 establishing the basic principles governing the investigation of accidents in the marine transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and the Council.
Art. 29. The reports of the OFEAN referred to in Article 28, § 1^er and § 2, and security recommendations may not be used as evidence in criminal, disciplinary or civil law proceedings.
An investigator and an external expert may not be summoned as a witness or expert in the course of a legal proceeding relating to a navigational accident or incident if the OFEAN investigator and the external expert are associated with or associated with the security investigation.
Art. 30. § 1^er. The security recommendations made by the OFEAN are duly taken into account by their recipients, who, if necessary, ensure adequate follow-up in accordance with current Belgian law, European Union law and international law.
Where appropriate, OFEAN makes security recommendations based on a brief analysis of information and the overall results of all security investigations.
§ 2. In no case does a safety recommendation determine the liability or impute the fault of a navigational accident or incident.
Art. 31. Without prejudice to its right to launch an early warning, the OFEAN, if it considers that urgent measures must be taken at the European Union level to prevent further navigation accidents, informs the European Commission, at any stage of the security investigation, of the need to launch an early warning.
Art. 32. The OFEAN notify the European Commission of navigational accidents and incidents in accordance with the model defined by the King. The OFEAN also communicates to the European Commission the data collected as part of the security surveys in accordance with the EMCIP database diagram.
Art. 33. In accordance with existing legislation, the relevant provisions of the IMO Guidelines on the Equitable Treatment of Seafarers in the event of a sea accident are taken into account in the event of a navigation or incident.
Art. 34. § 1^er. shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to one year and by a fine of 26 euros to 3,000 euros or by one of these penalties only, anyone who infringes or hinders the application of the provisions of this Act and its enforcement orders.
§ 2. Any breach of professional secrecy, referred to in Article 8, § 3, is punishable by the penalties provided for in Article 458 of the Criminal Code.
Without prejudice to Article 458 of the Penal Code, is punishable by imprisonment from six months to three years and a fine of 500 euros to 30,000 euros or one of these penalties only, the person who has revealed the identity of a person who requests anonymity in accordance with Article 25, § 2.
§ 3. The provisions of Book 1 of the Criminal Code, without exception of Chapter VII and Article 85, are applicable to the offences provided for in this Act.
Art. 35. This Act produces its effects on June 17, 2011.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, 2 June 2012.
ALBERT
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy,
Consumers and the North Sea,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
Minister of Budget and Administrative Simplification,
O. CHASTEL
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) Session 2011-2012.
House of Representatives.
Documents. - Bill No. 53-1931/1. - Amendments, No. 53-1931/2. - Report made on behalf of the commission, No. 53-1931/3. - Text adopted by the commission, No. 53-1931/4. - Amendments in plenary meeting, No. 53-1931/5. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, No. 53-1931/6.
Full report. - 10 May 2012.
Senate.
Documents. - Project not referred to by the Senate, No. 5-1619/1.