OpenLegislation

The Crossbows (Northern Ireland) Order 1988

1988/794 · Made 27 April 1988 · Extends to Northern Ireland

Not fully up to date. 7 changes made by later legislation have not yet been written into this text, which is revised to 16 July 2008.

See the changes not yet applied
ProvisionChangeMade by
art. 3C-3IinsertedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 40
art. 8(1A)(1B)insertedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 41(2)(b)
art. 3words omittedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 39(2)
art. 3A 3BinsertedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 39(3)
art. 3J 3KinsertedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 41(1)
art. 8(1)words substitutedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 41(2)(a)
art. 9insertedCrime and Policing Act 2026 s. 41(3)

27th April 1988

Contents

  1. 1Title and commencement
  2. 2Interpretation
  3. 3Sale and letting on hire
  4. 4Purchase and hiring
  5. 5Possession
  6. 6Powers of search and seizure etc.
  7. 7Exception
  8. 8Punishments
  9. Signature

1Title and commencement

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Crossbows (Northern Ireland) Order 1988.

(2)

This Order shall come into operation on the expiration of two months from the day on which it is made.

2Interpretation

The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954F1 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

3Sale and letting on hire

A person who sells or lets on hire a crossbow or a part of a crossbow to a person under the age of F1eighteen is guilty of an offence, unless he believes him to be eighteen years of age or older and has reasonable ground for the belief.

4Purchase and hiring

A person under the age of F1eighteen who buys or hires a crossbow or a part of a crossbow is guilty of an offence.

5Possession

A person under the age of F1eighteen who has with him—

(a)

a crossbow which is capable of discharging a missile, or

(b)

parts of a crossbow, which together (and without any other parts) can be assembled to form a crossbow capable of discharging a missile,

is guilty of an offence, unless he is under the supervision of a person who is twenty‐one years of age or older.

6Powers of search and seizure etc.

(1)

If a constable suspects with reasonable cause that a person is committing or has committed an offence under Article 5, the constable may—

(a)

search that person for a crossbow or part of a crossbow;

(b)

search any vehicle, or anything in or on a vehicle, in or on which the constable suspects with reasonable cause there is a crossbow, or part of a crossbow, connected with the offence.

(2)

A constable may detain a person or vehicle for the purpose of a search under paragraph (1).

(3)

A constable may seize and retain for the purpose of proceedings for an offence under this Order anything discovered by him in the course of a search under paragraph (1) which appears to him to be a crossbow or part of a crossbow.

(4)

For the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by this Article a constable may enter any land other than a dwelling‐house.

7Exception

This Order does not apply to crossbows with a draw weight of less than 1.4 kilograms.

8Punishments

F1(1)

A person guilty of an offence under this Order shall be liable—

(a)

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;

(b)

on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years, or to a fine, or to both.

(3)

The court by which a person is convicted of an offence under this Order may make such order as it thinks fit as to the forfeiture or disposal of any crossbow or part of a crossbow in respect of which the offence was committed.

Signature