Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

Trespass on designated site

128 Offence of trespassing on designated site

(1) A person commits an offence if he enters, or is on, any designated site in England and Wales or Northern Ireland as a trespasser.

(2) A “designated site” means a site—

(a) specified or described (in any way) in an order made by the Secretary of State, and

(b) designated for the purposes of this section by the order.

(3) The Secretary of State may only designate a site for the purposes of this section if—

(a) it is comprised in Crown land; or

(b) it is comprised in land belonging to Her Majesty in Her private capacity or to the immediate heir to the Throne in his private capacity; or

(c) it appears to the Secretary of State that it is appropriate to designate the site in the interests of national security.

(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the site in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed was a designated site.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction—

(a) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks, or

(b) to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,

or to both.

(6) No proceedings for an offence under this section may be instituted against any person—

(a) in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General, or

(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

(7) For the purposes of this section a person who is on any designated site as a trespasser does not cease to be a trespasser by virtue of being allowed time to leave the site.

(8) In this section—

(a) “site” means the whole or part of any building or buildings, or any land, or both;

(b) “Crown land” means land in which there is a Crown interest or a Duchy interest.

(9) For this purpose—

• “Crown interest” means an interest belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Crown, and

• “Duchy interest” means an interest belonging to Her Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster or belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall.

(10) In the application of this section to Northern Ireland, the reference to 51 weeks in subsection (5)(a) is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

129 Corresponding Scottish offence

(1) A person commits an offence if he enters, or is on, any designated Scottish site without lawful authority.

(2) A “designated Scottish site” means a site in Scotland—

(a) specified or described (in any way) in an order made by the Secretary of State, and

(b) designated for the purposes of this section by the order.

(3) The Secretary of State may only designate a site for the purposes of this section if it appears to him that it is appropriate to designate the site in the interests of national security.

(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the site in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed was a designated Scottish site.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction—

(a) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or

(b) to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,

or to both.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person who is on any designated Scottish site without lawful authority does not acquire lawful authority by virtue of being allowed time to leave the site.

(7) In this section “site” means the whole or part of any building or buildings, or any land, or both.

130 Designated sites: powers of arrest

(1) A constable in uniform may, in England or Wales, arrest without warrant any person he reasonably suspects is committing or has committed an offence under section 128.

This subsection ceases to have effect on the commencement of section 110.

(2) An offence under section 128 is to be treated as an arrestable offence for the purposes of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1341 (N.I. 12)).

(3) A constable in uniform may, in Scotland, arrest without warrant any person he reasonably suspects is committing or has committed an offence under section 129.

131 Designated sites: access

(1) The following provisions do not apply to land in respect of which a designation order is in force—

(a) section 2(1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37) (rights of public in relation to access land),

(b) Part III of the Countryside (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/1895 (N.I. 18)) (access to open country), and

(c) section 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 2) (access rights).

(2) The Secretary of State may take such steps as he considers appropriate to inform the public of the effect of any designation order, including, in particular, displaying notices on or near the site to which the order relates.

(3) But the Secretary of State may only—

(a) display any such notice, or

(b) take any other steps under subsection (2),

in or on any building or land, if the appropriate person consents.

(4) The “appropriate person” is—

(a) a person appearing to the Secretary of State to have a sufficient interest in the building or land to consent to the notice being displayed or the steps being taken, or

(b) a person acting on behalf of such a person.

(5) In this section a “designation order” means—

(a) in relation to England and Wales or Northern Ireland, an order under section 128, or

(b) in relation to Scotland, an order under section 129.