AI-assisted research summary: The Ordinance bans possession or use of spear guns in prohibited areas, lets the Governor designate prohibited areas on Island Council recommendation, and sets penalties for breaches.
ASCENSION REVISED EDITION OF THE LAWS, 2017 ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES SPEAR GUNS CONTROL ORDINANCE, 2018 Ordinance A3 of 2018 In force 5 October 2018 Subsidiary legislation: SPEAR GUNS CONTROL ORDER, 2018 Page 2 Legal Notice A4 of 2018 __________________ SPEAR GUNS CONTROL ORDINANCE, 2018 AN ORDINANCE to control the possession and use of spear guns in the territorial waters of Ascension Island; and for connected and incidental purposes. Citation and commencement 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Spear Guns Control Ordinance, 2018, and comes into force on 5 October 2018. Interpretation 2. In this Ordinance— “prohibited area” includes all of the areas determined by the Governor under section 3; “spear gun” includes a hand held spear or lance and a hand held weapon designed to discharge a spear or lance. Prohibited or restricted areas 3. (1) The Governor, on recommendation of the Island Council, may by order determine prohibited areas for the purpose of this Ordinance. (2) An order under subsection (1) may specify a period or periods during which the areas will be prohibited areas. Control of possession and use of spear guns 4. (1) No person may at any time have in his or her possession or use a spear gun in a prohibited area. 2 (2) If a spear gun is found upon any vessel whilst in a prohibited area, every person aboard that vessel is deemed, unless the contrary is proved, to have been in possession at all relevant times of the spear gun. Offence 5. (1) A person who contravenes section 4 commits an offence. Penalty: A fine of £5,000 or imprisonment for a term of 6 months. (2) If a person is convicted of an offence under section 4, the convicting court may, in addition to imposing a fine in respect of the offence, order that the spear gun involved in the commission of the offence be forfeited to the Crown. (3) A person does not commit an offence under section 4 if he or she has a spear gun in his or her possession on a vessel solely for the purpose of conveying such spear gun through the prohibited area to an area that is not a prohibited area. (4) The burden of proving that a spear gun is in a person’s possession for the purpose mentioned in subsection (3) is upon the person found in possession of the spear gun. ______________________________ SPEAR GUNS CONTROL ORDINANCE, 2018 SPEAR GUNS CONTROL (ASCENSION) ORDER, 2018 (Section 3) Citation 1. This Order may be cited as the Spear Guns Control (Ascension) Order, 2018. Prohibited areas 2. The area set out in the Schedule is a prohibited area for the purposes of the Spear Guns Control Ordinance, 2018, for a period of one year with effect from 5 October 2018. __________________________ SCHEDULE PROHIBITED AREAS AREA DESCRIPTION (1) English Bay All that area of coastal water within the bay enclosed by a line reaching from the end of the area marked “A” known as Two Hook (7.8928 degrees South, 14.3858 degrees West) in a north-easterly direction for approximately six hundred and ninety metres to a point on the rocks marked “B” known as North Point (7.8897 degrees South, 14.3803 degrees West). 3 ______________________