{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/police-northern-ireland-act-1998/section-66",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/police-northern-ireland-act-1998/section-66.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1998/32",
  "legislation_title": "Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/police-northern-ireland-act-1998",
  "path": "section/66",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "66",
  "heading": "Assaults on, and obstruction of, constables, etc.",
  "text": "(1) Any person who assaults, resists, obstructs or impedes a constable in the execution of his duty, or a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty, shall be guilty of an offence.\n(1A) Any person who assaults, resists, obstructs or impedes a designated person in the execution of his duty, or a person assisting a designated person in the execution of his duty, shall be guilty of an offence.\n(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1)or (1A) shall be liable—\n(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;\n(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or to both.\n(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(3A) In subsection (1A) the references to the execution of the duty of a designated person are to—\n(a) the exercise of a power conferred on him by his designation;\n(b) the performance of a duty imposed on him by his designation.\n(3B) In this section “ designated person ” means a person designated under section 30, 30A or 31 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003.\n(4) This section also applies to a constable who is a member of a police force in Great Britain when he is executing a warrant, or otherwise acting in Northern Ireland, by virtue of any statutory provision conferring powers on him in Northern Ireland.\n(5) In this section references to a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty include references to any person who is neither a constable nor in the company of a constable but who—\n(a) is a member of an international joint investigation team that is led by a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and\n(b) is carrying out his functions as a member of that team.\n(6) In this section “ international joint investigation team ” means any investigation team formed in accordance with—\n(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(c) any international agreement to which the United Kingdom is a party and which is specified for the purposes of this section in an order made by the Department of Justice.\n(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .",
  "extent": "N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "S. 66(1A) inserted (8.4.2003) by Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 (c. 6), s. 38(2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in s. 66(2) inserted (8.4.2003) by Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 (c. 6), s. 38(3)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "S. 66(3) repealed (1.3.2007) by The Police and Criminal Evidence (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/288 (N.I. 2)), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 33, Sch. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "S. 66(3A)(3B) inserted (8.4.2003) by Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 (c. 6), s. 38(5)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Word in s. 66(3B) inserted (22.4.2007) by The Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/912 (N.I. 6)), arts. 1(3), 7(10)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "S. 66(5)-(7) inserted (1.10.2002) by 2002 c. 30, s. 104(3); S.I. 2002/2306, art. 2(f)(xiii)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "S. 66(6)(a)(b) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/742), regs. 1, 68(3) (with regs. 2(3), 10, 72) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1408, regs. 1, 8, 19); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "Words in s. 66(6)(c) substituted (12.4.2010) by The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/976), art. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 37(a) (with arts. 28-31)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F9",
      "text": "S. 66(7) omitted (12.4.2010) by virtue of The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/976), art. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 37(b) (with arts. 28-31)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "S. 66 modified (26.4.2004) by Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 (c. 32), ss. 84(3), 94(1); S.I. 2004/786, art. 3(1)(2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C2",
      "text": "S. 66 modified (31.7.2017) by The Criminal Justice (European Investigation Order) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/730), regs. 1(1), 34(5)(b) (with regs. 3, 34(1))"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "modified by 2003 c. 6 s. 30(11) (as added)",
      "affecting": "nisi/2007/912",
      "affecting_title": "The Policing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/32/section/66",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:22:34.496122+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}