Outer Space Act 1986

General

11 Regulations

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a) prescribing anything required or authorised to be pre scribed under this Act, and

(b) generally for carrying this Act into effect.

(2) Regulations under this Act shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

12 Offences

(1) A person commits an offence who—

(a) carries on an activity in contravention of section 3 (licensing requirement);

(b) for the purpose of obtaining a licence (for himself or for another) knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular ;

(c) being the holder of a licence, fails to comply with the conditions of the licence ;

(d) fails to comply with a direction under section 8 ;

(e) intentionally obstructs a person in the exercise of powers conferred by a warrant under section 9 ; or

(f) fails to comply with such of the regulations under this Act as may be prescribed.

(2) A person committing an offence is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine and on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

(3) Where an offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to neglect on the part of, a director, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

In this subsection " director ", in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.

(4) Proceedings for an offence committed outside the United Kingdom may be taken, and the offence may for incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the United Kingdom.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under paragraph (a), (c), (d) or (f) of subsection (1) it is a defence for the accused to show that he used all due diligence and took all reasonable precautions to avoid the commission of the offence.

(6) A person other than a person to whom this Act applies is not guilty of an offence under this Act in respect of things done by him outside the United Kingdom, except—

(a) an offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, conspiracy or incitement in relation to the commission of an offence under this Act in the United Kingdom; or

(b) an offence under subsection (3) (liability of directors, officers, &c.) in connection with an offence committed by a body corporate which is a person to whom this Act applies.

(7) Section 2 (person to whom this Act applies) shall not be construed as restricting the persons against whom proceedings for an offence may be brought.

13 Minor definitions

(1) In this Act—

• " dependent territory " means—

  (a)

  a colony, or

  (b)

  a country outside Her Majesty's dominions in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction in right of Her Government in the United Kingdom ;

• " outer space " includes the moon and other celestial bodies; and

• " space object" includes the component parts of a space object, its launch vehicle and the component parts of that.

(2) For the purposes of this Act a person carries on an activity if he causes it to occur or is responsible for its continuing.

14 Index of defined expressions

The following Table shows provisions defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in this Act (other than provisions defining or explaining an expression used in the same section): —

activities to which this Act applies	section 1
carrying on an activity	section 13(2)
dependent territory	section 13(1)
outer space	section 13(1)
person to whom this Act applies	section 2
prescribed	section 11(1)(a)
space object	section 13(1)

15 Short title, commencement and extent

(1) This Act may be cited as the Outer Space Act 1986.

(2) This Act comes into force on such day as the Secretary of State may appoint by order made by statutory instrument.

(3) The Secretary of State may appoint a later day for the commencement of so much of section 2(2) (a) as refers to the status of British National (Overseas).

(4) Activities to which this Act applies begun before the commencement of this Act may be carried on without a licence under section 3 for six months after commencement; but sections 8 and 9 (directions and action to secure compliance with international obligations) apply to such activities as they apply to activities carried on in contravention of that section.

(5) This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(6) Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that this Act shall apply, subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in the Order, to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or any dependent territory.