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Chemical Weapons Act 1996

Type Public General Act

Publication 1996-04-03

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

Introduction

General interpretation

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(1) Chemical weapons are—

(a) toxic chemicals and their precursors;

(b) munitions and other devices designed to cause death or harm through the toxic properties of toxic chemicals released by them;

(2) Subsection (1) is subject to sections 2(2) and (3), 10(1) and 11(2) (by virtue of which an object is not a chemical weapon if the use or intended use is only for permitted purposes).

(3) Permitted purposes are—

(a) peaceful purposes;

(b) purposes related to protection against toxic chemicals;

(d) purposes of enforcing the law.

(4) Legitimate military purposes are all military purposes except those which depend on the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a method of warfare in circumstances where the main object is to cause death, permanent harm or temporary incapacity to humans or animals.

(5) A toxic chemical is a chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, permanent harm or temporary incapacity to humans or animals; and the origin, method of production and place of production are immaterial.

(6) A precursor is a chemical reactant which takes part at any stage in the production (by whatever method) of a toxic chemical.

(7) References to an object include references to a substance.

(8) The Convention is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, signed at Paris on 13 January 1993.

(9) This section applies for the purposes of this Act.

Chemical weapons

Use etc. of chemical weapons

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(1) No person shall—

(a) use a chemical weapon;

(b) develop or produce a chemical weapon;

(d) participate in the transfer of a chemical weapon;

(e) engage in military preparations, or in preparations of a military nature, intending to use a chemical weapon.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) an object is not a chemical weapon if the person uses the object only for permitted purposes; and in deciding whether permitted purposes are intended the types and quantities of objects shall be taken into account.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), (c), (d) or (e) an object is not a chemical weapon if the person does the act there mentioned with the intention that the object will be used only for permitted purposes; and in deciding whether permitted purposes are intended the types and quantities of objects shall be taken into account.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) a person participates in the transfer of an object if—

(a) he acquires or disposes of the object or enters into a contract to acquire or dispose of it, or

(b) he makes arrangements under which another person acquires or disposes of the object or another person enters into a contract to acquire or dispose of it.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)—

(a) to acquire an object is to buy it, hire it, borrow it or accept it as a gift;

(b) to dispose of an object is to sell it, let it on hire, lend it or give it.

(6) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1)(a), (c) or (d) relating to an object it is a defence for the accused to prove—

(a) that he neither knew nor suspected nor had reason to suspect that the object was a chemical weapon, or

(b) that he knew or suspected it to be a chemical weapon and as soon as reasonably practicable after he first so knew or suspected he took all reasonable steps to inform the Secretary of State or a constable of his knowledge or suspicion.

(7) Nothing in subsection (6) prejudices any defence which it is open to a person charged with an offence under this section to raise apart from that subsection.

(8) A person contravening this section is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.

Application of section 2

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(1) Section 2 applies to acts done in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

(2) So far as it applies to acts done outside the United Kingdom, section 2 applies to United Kingdom nationals, Scottish partnerships, and bodies incorporated under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.

(3) Her Majesty may by Order in Council extend the application of section 2, so far as it applies to acts done outside the United Kingdom, to bodies incorporated under the law of any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or any colony.

(4) For the purposes of this section a United Kingdom national is an individual who is—

(a) a British citizen, a British Dependent Territories citizen, a British National (Overseas) or a British Overseas citizen,

(b) a person who under the British Nationality Act 1981 is a British subject, or

(5) Proceedings for an offence committed under section 2 outside the United Kingdom may be taken, and the offence may for incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the United Kingdom.

Suspicious objects

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(1) If—

(a) the Secretary of State has grounds to suspect that an object is a chemical weapon, and

(b) at least one person falls within subsection (2),

the Secretary of State may serve on any person falling within that subsection a copy of a notice falling within subsection (3).

(2) The persons falling within this subsection are—

(a) any person who appears to the Secretary of State to have the object in his possession, and

(b) any person not falling within paragraph (a) and who appears to the Secretary of State to have an interest which the Secretary of State believes is materially affected by the notice.

(3) A notice falling within this subsection is a notice which—

(a) describes the object and states its location;

(b) states that the Secretary of State suspects that the object is a chemical weapon and gives the reasons for his suspicion;

(d) states that any person may make representations that the object is not a chemical weapon;

(e) states that a person on whom the notice is served and who has the object in his possession must not relinquish possession before a date specified in the notice.

Power to remove or immobilise objects

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(1) If the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe that—

(a) an object is on premises to which the public has access or which are occupied by a person who consents to action being taken under this subsection, and

(b) the object is a chemical weapon,

the Secretary of State may authorise a person to enter the premises and to search them.

(2) If—

(a) a justice of the peace is satisfied on information on oath that there is reasonable cause to believe that an object is on premises (of whatever nature) and that it is a chemical weapon, or

(b) in Scotland a justice, within the meaning of section 307 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, is satisfied by evidence on oath as mentioned in paragraph (a),

he may issue a warrant in writing authorising a person acting under the authority of the Secretary of State to enter the premises, if necessary by force, at any time within one month from the time of the issue of the warrant and to search them.

(3) A person who acts under an authorisation given under subsection (1) or (2) may take with him such other persons and such equipment as appear to him to be necessary.

(4) If a person enters premises under an authorisation given under subsection (1) or (2) and the object is found there he may make the object safe and—

(a) he may seize and remove it if it is reasonably practicable to do so, or

(b) he may in any other case affix a warning to the object or to something in a conspicuous position near the object, stating that the object is not to be moved or interfered with before a date specified in the warning.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) an object is made safe if, without being destroyed, it is prevented from being an immediate danger (as where a fuse is neutralised or the object is smothered in foam).

(6) The powers conferred on an authorised person under this section shall only be exercisable, if the authorisation under subsection (1) or the warrant so provides, in the presence of a constable.

(7) This section applies whether or not any copy of a notice has been served under section 4.

Power to destroy removed objects

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(1) This section applies if an object is removed from premises under section 5, and for the purposes of this section—

(a) the first six-month period is the period of six months beginning with the day after the removal;

(b) the second six-month period is the period of six months beginning with the day after the first six-month period ends.

(2) If at any time in the second six-month period the Secretary of State decides that the object should be destroyed he may authorise a person to destroy it; but this is subject to subsections (3) to (5).

(3) If at any time in the first six-month period—

(a) any person appears to the Secretary of State to have had the object in his possession immediately before its removal, or

(b) any person not falling within paragraph (a) appears to the Secretary of State to have an interest which the Secretary of State believes would be materially affected by the object’s destruction,

the Secretary of State must serve on such a person a copy of a notice falling within subsection (4).

(4) A notice falling within this subsection is a notice which—

(a) describes the object and states its location;

(b) states that the Secretary of State proposes to secure its destruction and gives the reasons for his proposal;

(d) states than an objection (if made) must be made in writing to the Secretary of State before such date as is specified in the notice and must state why the object should not be destroyed.

(5) Before he reaches a decision under subsection (2) the Secretary of State must—

(a) allow any person on whom a copy of a notice has been served under subsection (3) time to respond, and

(b) take into account any objections to the object’s proposed destruction (whether made in response to a notice or otherwise).

(6) If an object is removed from premises under section 5 and destroyed under this section the Secretary of State may recover from a responsible person any costs reasonably incurred by the Secretary of State in connection with the removal and destruction; and a responsible person is any person who had possession of the object immediately before its removal.

(7) If—

(a) an object is removed from premises under section 5,

(b) at the end of the second six-month period the Secretary of State has not authorised the destruction of the object, and

the Secretary of State must return the object to the person mentioned in paragraph (c) or, if there is more than one, to such of them as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.

Power to enter premises and destroy objects

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(1) This section applies if a warning has been affixed under section 5, and for the purposes of this section—

(a) the first six-month period is the period of six months beginning with the day after the warning was affixed;

(b) the second six-month period is the period of six months beginning with the day after the first six-month period ends.

(2) If at any time in the second six-month period the Secretary of State decides that the object should be destroyed it may be destroyed as provided by subsections (6) to (9); but this is subject to subsections (3) to (5).

(3) If at any time in the first six-month period—

(a) any person appears to the Secretary of State to have had the object in his possession immediately before the warning was affixed, or

(b) any person not falling within paragraph (a) appears to the Secretary of State to have an interest which the Secretary of State believes would be materially affected by the object’s destruction,

the Secretary of State must serve on such a person a copy of a notice falling within subsection (4).

(4) A notice falling within this subsection is a notice which—

(a) describes the object and states its location;

(b) states that the Secretary of State proposes to secure its destruction and gives the reasons for his proposal;

(d) states that an objection (if made) must be made in writing to the Secretary of State before such date as is specified in the notice and must state why the object should not be destroyed.

(5) Before he reaches a decision under subsection (2) the Secretary of State must—

(a) allow any person on whom a copy of a notice has been served under subsection (3) time to respond, and

(b) take into account any objections to the object’s proposed destruction (whether made in response to a notice or otherwise).

(6) If—

(a) at any time in the second six-month period the Secretary of State decides that the object should be destroyed, and

(b) the object is on premises to which the public has access or which are occupied by a person who consents to action being taken under this subsection,

the Secretary of State may authorise a person to enter the premises and to destroy the object if it is found there.

(7) If (whatever the nature of the premises concerned)—

(a) a justice of the peace is satisfied on information on oath that a warning has been affixed under section 5, and that the Secretary of State has decided at any time in the second six-month period that the object should be destroyed, or

(b) in Scotland a justice, within the meaning of section 307 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, is satisfied by evidence on oath as mentioned in paragraph (a),

(8) A person who acts under an authorisation given under subsection (6) or (7) may take with him such other persons and such equipment as appear to him to be necessary.

(9) The powers conferred on an authorised person under this section shall only be exercisable, if the authorisation under subsection (6) or the warrant so provides, in the presence of a constable.

(10) Where an object is destroyed under this section the Secretary of State may recover from a responsible person any costs reasonably incurred by the Secretary of State in connection with the destruction; and a responsible person is any person who had possession of the object immediately before the warning was affixed under section 5.

Compensation for destruction

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(1) This section applies if a person claims that—

(a) an object has been destroyed under section 6 or 7,

(b) he had an interest which was materially affected by the destruction and he sustained loss as a result, and

(c) no copy of a notice was served on him under the section concerned (whether or not one was served on any other person).

(2) If the person concerned makes an application under this section to the High Court or in Scotland the Court of Session, and the Court finds that his claim is justified, the Court may order the Secretary of State to pay to the applicant such amount (if any) by way of compensation as the Court considers just.

(3) If the Court believes that the object would have been destroyed even if a copy of a notice had been served on the applicant under the section concerned the Court must not order compensation to be paid under this section.

Offences relating to destruction etc

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(1) If—

(a) a copy of a notice is served on a person under section 4,

(b) the notice relates to an object in his possession at the time the copy is served,

(d) he has no reasonable excuse for so relinquishing possession,

he is guilty of an offence.

(2) If a person wilfully obstructs a person in—

(a) entering or searching premises under an authorisation given under section 5(1) or (2) or 7(6) or (7),

(b) making an object safe, seizing or removing an object, or affixing a warning, under section 5(4),

(d) attempting to do anything mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c),

the person so obstructing is guilty of an offence.

(3) If—

(a) a warning is affixed under section 5(4),

(b) a person interferes with the warning, or moves or interferes with the object before the date specified in the warning, and

he is guilty of an offence.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under any of the preceding provisions of this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

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