The Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

Sex offender orders: supplemental

7.—(1) In Article 6 and this Article “sex offender” means a person who—

(a) has been convicted of a sexual offence to which Part I of the [1997 c. 51.] Sex Offenders Act 1997 applies;

(b) has been found not guilty of such an offence by reason of insanity, or found to be under a disability and to have done the act charged against him in respect of such an offence;

(c) has been cautioned by a constable, in Northern Ireland or England and Wales, in respect of such an offence which, at the time when the caution was given, he had admitted; or

(d) has been punished under the law in force in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom for an act which—

(i) constituted an offence under that law; and

(ii) would have constituted a sexual offence to which that Part applies if it had been done in any part of the United Kingdom.

(2) In paragraph (1) of Article 6 “the relevant date”, in relation to a sex offender, means—

(a) the date or, as the case may be, the latest date on which he has been convicted, found, cautioned or punished as mentioned in paragraph (1); or

(b) if later, the date of the coming into operation of that Article.

(3) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 6 of the [1997 c. 51.] Sex Offenders Act 1997 apply for the construction of references in paragraphs (1) and (2) as they apply for the construction of references in Part I of that Act.

(4) An act punishable under the law in force in any country or territory outside the United Kingdom constitutes an offence under that law for the purposes of paragraph (1), however it is described in that law.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), the condition in paragraph (1)(d)(i) shall be taken to be satisfied unless, not later than magistrates' court rules may provide, the defendant serves on the applicant a notice—

(a) stating that, on the facts as alleged with respect to the act in question, the condition is not in his opinion satisfied;

(b) showing his grounds for that opinion; and

(c) requiring the applicant to show that it is satisfied.

(6) The court, if it thinks fit, may permit the defendant to require the applicant to show that the condition is satisfied without the prior service of a notice under paragraph (5).

(7) Any order of the county court made on an appeal under Article 143 of the [1981 NI 26.] Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (appeals in other cases) against the making of a sex offender order (other than one directing that an application be re-heard by a court of summary jurisdiction) shall, for the purposes of Article 6(6), be treated as if it were an order of the court from which the appeal was brought and not an order of the county court.