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EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - LONG TITLE

An Act to make further provision with respect to the regulation of
explosives and fireworks and for related purposes.
[19th May 1970]
Making and dealing with explosives.

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 1

1.(1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) and without prejudice to
the operation of the Explosives Acts (Northern Ireland) 1875 and
1924 (in this Act referred to as "the principal Acts") or of any
instrument made under those Acts or of any other provision of this
Act, a person shall not carry out, or undertake to carry out, any
of the following transactions, that is to say, making, selling,
purchasing, acquiring, transferring or disposing of, any explosive
unless

(a)there have been furnished in writing to an officer of police
full and accurate particulars of the proposed transaction and the
consent in writing of such an officer has been obtained to its
being carried out; and

(b)in the case of a sale, acquisition, transfer or disposal, he
keeps a permanent record of all such transactions entered into by
him and has entered in that record the name, address and occupation
of every person from whom he has purchased or acquired any
explosive and of every person to whom he has sold, transferred or
disposed of, any explosive together with the dates of each such
transaction and particulars of the quantity and nature of the
explosive to which it related.

(2) Any person carrying out any transaction mentioned in subsection
(1) shall

(a)produce for inspection by, and make immediately available to, a
member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or Government Inspector, on
demand:

(i)the permanent record required to be kept under paragraph (b) of
that subsection; and

(ii)any explosive in his possession or under his control;

(b)retain, for a period of at least two years after first coming
into his possession, and, at any time during that period, produce
and make available as aforesaid, all invoices, consignment notes,
receipts and consents respecting every sale, purchase, acquisition,
transfer or disposal of explosives to which he is a party.

(3) Subsection (1)(a) shall not apply to

(a)a purchase, acquisition or transfer if the purchaser, acquirer or
transferee is the occupier of a licensed factory or a licensed
magazine;

(b)a transaction carried out by or on behalf of a department of
the Government of Northern Ireland or a Government Inspector acting
as such.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to the armed forces of
the Crown or to any department of the Government of the United
Kingdom or to the Commissioners of Irish Lights or to any member
of the Royal Ulster Constabulary acting as such.

(5) It may, and shall where Explosives Regulations under section
3(3) so provide, be made a condition of any consent issued under
this section to the purchase, acquisition or transfer of any
explosive that that explosive shall be used only for a purpose or
in a manner or at a time or within a period or in the presence
of such persons as may be specified in the consent and, if not
used within any such period, shall be handed over to an officer of
police for destruction or returned to a licensed magazine or
licensed store.

(6) Any person acting in contravention of any provision of this
section or of any condition of any consent issued under this
section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both
such fine and imprisonment.

(7) In this section "officer of police" means an officer of the
Royal Ulster Constabulary not below the rank of Head Constable.

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 2
Blasting operations at mines and quarries.

2.(1) A person shall not remove from any store kept at or used
for the purposes of any mine or quarry, any explosive unless he is
an authorised shot firer or is authorised in writing by the
occupier of the mine or quarry to remove the explosive and when
removing it acts under the direct supervision of an authorised shot
firer.

(2) It shall be the duty of the occupier of every mine or quarry
and of every person removing or supervising the removal of any
explosive from any store kept at or used for the purposes of a
mine or quarry, to ensure that, if such explosive is not used or
destroyed, it is returned to the said store immediately upon
completion, abandonment or postponement of the blasting operations for
the purposes of which it was removed.

(3) The occupier of every mine or quarry at which blasting
operations are carried on shall keep or cause to be kept at the
store at which explosives are kept for the purposes of that mine
or quarry a register in which shall be recorded the amount of the
explosive issued for each separate blasting operation, the amount
used at such operation, the amount returned to store as required by
subsection (2), and whether the operation was carried out, abandoned
or postponed together with, in each case, the name of the person
to whom the explosives were issued for the purpose of the
operation.

(4) Any person who acts in contravention of any of the provisions
of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable
on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both
such imprisonment and such fine.

(5) For the purposes of this section "occupier" includes, in
relation to a mine or quarry, any person who is for the time
being entitled to work that mine or quarry.

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 3
Explosives Regulations.

3.(1) The Minister of Home Affairs (in this Act referred to as
"the Minister") may make regulations (to be known and in this Act
referred to as "Explosives Regulations") for imposing such
prohibitions or restrictions (in addition to the prohibitions or
restrictions imposed by or under the principal Acts or this Act) as
may be necessary or expedient for controlling and regulating the
following matters, that is to say, the manufacture, sale,
acquisition, transfer, storing, transportation, handling, use or
disposal of explosives or the sale or use of fireworks including
regulations requiring conditions to be observed and records to be
kept of or in connection with all or any of those matters.

(2) Any provision which may be made (whether by the Minister or by
any other authority) with respect to any of the matters mentioned
in subsection (1) by instrument under the principal Acts may be
made by Explosives Regulations.

(3) Explosives Regulations may prescribe the form of any register or
record required to be kept and the form and duration of any
licence, permit, certificate, authorisation or other document issued
under the Regulations or under this Act, the terms and conditions
on and subject to which any such document may be issued, suspended
or cancelled, the fees to be paid for the issue thereof, and the
manner in which such fees are to be applied.

(4) Every person who acts in contravention of any provision
contained in Explosives Regulations or of any condition of any
document issued thereunder shall be guilty of an offence, and unless
some penalty is otherwise expressly provided by or under this Act
for such contravention, shall be liable on summary conviction to a
fine not exceeding three hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and
imprisonment.

(5) Explosives Regulations shall be subject to affirmative resolution.

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 4
False statements etc.

4.(1) Any person who

(a)for or in connection with obtaining a consent under section
1(1)(a) knowingly or recklessly makes, or participates in, or assents
to or acquiesces in, the making of any false or misleading
statement; or

(b)knowingly or recklessly makes, or participates in, or assents to
or acquiesces in, the making of any false or misleading statement
in any record required to be kept under section 1(1)(b) or in any
register required to be kept under section 2(3); or

(c)knowingly or recklessly omits, or participates in or assents to
or acquiesces in the omission of, the entry of any material
particular in any such record or register; or

(d)forges, counterfeits, falsifies or fraudulently uses or knowingly
or wilfully alters, destroys, erases or obliterates the whole or any
part of any consent, record, register or other document issued or
required under this Act or under Explosives Regulations or wilfully
causes or knowingly permits any such act to be done by any other
person; or

(e)wilfully refuses to furnish any information within his knowledge
to, or knowingly furnishes false or misleading information to, a
member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or a Government Inspector
with respect to any such consent, record, register or other
document;

(2) Section 41 of the Magistrates' Courts Act (Northern Ireland)
1964 shall not apply to an offence under this section.

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 5
RUC to have powers of inspectors.

5. Any member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary on production of his
warrant card shall have and may exercise all or any of the powers
of a Government Inspector under sections 55, 75 and 86 of the
Explosives Act 1875 and, accordingly, that Act shall have effect as
if references in those sections and, so far as it applies to those
sections, in section 87 of that Act, to a Government Inspector
included references to any such member.

S.6, with Schedule 1, effects amendments. S.7(1) substitutes s.91 of
1875 c.17; subs.(2) amends s.41 of 1964 c.21 (NI)

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 8
Interpretation.

8.(1) In this Act

"authorised shot firer" means, in relation to a mine or a quarry,
a person who is duly authorised to act as a shot firer for the
purposes of any rules or regulations for the time being applicable
to blasting operations at that mine or quarry;

"Explosives Regulations" and "Minister" have the meanings respectively
assigned to them in section 3(1);

"instrument" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(c) of the
Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;

"principal Acts" has the meaning assigned to it in section 1(1).

(2) For the purposes of sections 2 and 3, references to explosives
shall include references to any liquid, substance, article or thing
intended to be used in the adaptation or preparation or modification
of an explosive.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), in this Act, "explosive" and other
expressions to which meanings are respectively assigned in the
Explosives Act 1875 shall have those meanings.

S.9(1), with Schedule 2, effects repeals; subs.(2) effects revocations

EXPLOSIVES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1970 - SECT 10
Short title and citation.

10. This Act may be cited as the Explosives Act (Northern Ireland)
1970 and the principal Acts and this Act may be cited together as
the Explosives Acts (Northern Ireland) 1875 to 1970.

Schedule 1Amendments. Schedule 2Repeals