PART 3

Anti-Personnel Mines

8 .— For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may by order designate any state specified in the order to be an Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention state, and such an order shall be evidence that that state is an Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention state.

9 .— (1) Subject to section 10 , a person who—

(a) uses,

(b) develops or produces,

(c) acquires,

(d) possesses or retains, or

(e) transfers to any person,

an anti-personnel mine is guilty of an offence.

(2) Subject to section 10 , a person who assists, encourages or induces a person to commit an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply to an act committed outside the State if the act—

(a) is committed on board an Irish ship,

(b) is committed on an aircraft registered in the State, or

(c) is committed by a member of the Defence Forces.

10 .— (1) Section 9 does not apply to—

(a) the acquisition, possession, use, retention, emplacement or transfer of an anti-personnel mine by a member of the Defence Forces in accordance with an authorisation under subsection (2) that is in force, or

(b) the possession, retention or transfer of an anti-personnel mine—

(i) by a member of the Defence Forces in the course of his or her duties for the purpose of—

(I) rendering that anti-personnel mine harmless, or

(II) the future destruction of that anti-personnel mine,

(ii) by a member of the Garda Síochána—

(I) in the exercise of any power conferred by law on that member to seize and retain an anti-personnel mine in connection with any criminal proceedings, or

(II) for the purpose of delivering that anti-personnel mine to the Defence Forces for destruction, or

(iii) by any other person appointed by the Minister by warrant in writing, in the course of that person’s duties for the purpose of delivering that anti-personnel mine to the Defence Forces for destruction.

(2) The Minister for Defence, in consultation with the Minister, may, by notice in writing, authorise the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces—

(a) subject to subsection (3), to acquire, retain or transfer a specified number of anti-personnel mines for the purposes of the development of, or training in, mine detection, mine clearance or mine destruction techniques by the Defence Forces, or

(b) to permit the Defence Forces to transfer to an appropriate authority of an Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention state a specified number of anti-personnel mines for the purpose of their destruction.

(3) The number of anti-personnel mines specified in a notice under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) shall not exceed the minimum number absolutely necessary for the purposes mentioned in that paragraph.