Part 2: Further functions of the OGA relating to offshore petroleum The OGA's procedures Section 59: Procedure for enforcement decisions
Section 59 requires the OGA to establish and publish a statement of the procedure that it will follow when making a decision on whether or not to impose a sanction and which sanction to impose. The main requirement in this process will be for the OGA to ensure that a person deciding on whether or not to give a sanction notice has not been directly involved in establishing the evidence on which the enforcement decision was based.
	This is predominately intended to avoid the potential for conflicts of interest which could arise if a person who is acquiring information from companies, and gathering evidence associated with an alleged breach of a petroleum-related duty, is also the person who is deciding on whether or not to impose a sanction.
	Failure by the OGA to follow its process does not automatically override the validity of a sanction, but it will be an available consideration to the Tribunal in an appeal case when determining, amongst other things, whether the imposition of the sanction was reasonable.