Explanatory note

Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (“section 141”) provides that any person who manufactures, sells or hires or offers for sale or hire, exposes or has in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lends or gives to any other person, a weapon to which that section applies shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine or both. The importation of any such weapon is prohibited. Section 141 also provides that any person who possesses in private a weapon to which the section applies is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks, to a fine or to both.

The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/2019) (the “1988 Order”) specifies descriptions of weapons to which section 141 applies and sets out defences to the section 141 offences.

Part 2 of this Order adds a new weapon description at paragraph 1(sa) in the Schedule to the 1988 Order (the weapon sometimes known as a “zombie-style knife” or “zombie-style machete”), provides for defences to the section 141 offences in relation to this new weapon description, and provides for a bluntness defence which applies to both paragraph 1(sa) and paragraph 1(r) weapons (curved swords).

Parts 3 and 4 of this Order provide for a scheme under which compensation can be claimed by persons surrendering weapons which fall under the new paragraph 1(sa).

Article 6 makes provision as to eligibility for compensation, article 7 provides for officers accepting the surrendered items to issue a receipt, article 8 provides for claims to be submitted where knives have been surrendered and for the forms to be transmitted to the Secretary of State, and article 9 provides for determination of claims and payment by the Secretary of State. The claim form is set out in the Schedule.

The standard level of compensation for these weapons, set at £10, is the amount of compensation payable unless the person claiming the compensation contends that the value exceeds that amount. If the person claims that the value exceeds the standard level, valuation evidence must be submitted and the level of compensation payable is to be determined by the Secretary of State.

The surrender arrangements referred to in this instrument may be obtained at gov.uk.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs to business is published with an Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.