Mike wrote: > I'm sure you're right that it's pretty expensive, even though I guess that > quite a few cases get settled before it gets to court. But they do recover > more than a single year's licence in some/most cases. And of course there's > the deterrent effect on others to take into account.
IMO, it should always cost the perpetrator more in fines and back- payments than they gained by refusing to buy the licence in the first place. That is the only deterrent that can exist. They know that they're not going to prison for the offence and, only in a very small minority of hard cases, is the boat impounded and sold or destroyed. If it costs to enforce then so be it. If you don't enforce the rules (as Tony has posted) then you might as well not have them and we can all not bother to buy a licence and then, eventually, you get a return to survival of the fittest. Roger
