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A | |
Bill | |
To | |
Provide for an offence of acquiring, disposing of, importing or exporting | |
tainted cultural objects, or agreeing or arranging to do so; and for connected | |
purposes. | |
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and | |
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present | |
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— | |
1 Offence of dealing in tainted cultural objects | |
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if, knowing or believing that a cultural object is | |
tainted, he dishonestly deals in it. | |
(2) It is immaterial whether he knows or believes that the object is a cultural object. | |
(3) A person guilty of the offence is liable— | 5 |
(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding | |
seven years or a fine (or both), | |
(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six | |
months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both). | |
2 Meaning of “tainted cultural object” | 10 |
(1) “Cultural object” means an object of historical, architectural or archaeological | |
interest. | |
(2) A cultural object is tainted if, after the commencement of this Act— | |
(a) a person removes the object in a case falling within subsection (4) or he | |
excavates the object, and | 15 |
(b) in the circumstances in which the object is removed or excavated an | |
offence is committed by him. | |
(3) It is immaterial whether— | |
(a) the removal or excavation was done in the United Kingdom or | |
elsewhere, | 20 |
(b) the offence is committed under the law of a part of the United Kingdom | |
or under the law of any other country or territory. | |
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(4) An object is removed in a case falling within this subsection if— | |
(a) it is removed from a building or structure of historical, architectural or | |
archaeological interest where the object has at any time formed part of | |
the building or structure, or | |
(b) it is removed from a monument of such interest. | 5 |
(5) “Monument” means— | |
(a) any work, cave or excavation, | |
(b) any site comprising the remains of any building or structure or of any | |
work, cave or excavation, | |
(c) any site comprising, or comprising the remains of, any vehicle, vessel, | 10 |
aircraft or other movable structure, or part of any such thing. | |
(6) “Remains” includes any trace or sign of the previous existence of the thing in | |
question. | |
(7) It is immaterial whether— | |
(a) a building, structure or work is above or below the surface of the land, | 15 |
(b) a site is above or below water. | |
(8) This section has effect for the purposes of section 1. | |
3 Meaning of “deals in” | |
(1) A person deals in an object if (and only if) he— | |
(a) acquires, disposes of, imports or exports it, | 20 |
(b) agrees with another to do an act mentioned in paragraph (a), or | |
(c) makes arrangements under which another person does such an act or | |
under which another person agrees with a third person to do such an | |
act. | |
(2) “Acquires” means buys, hires, borrows or accepts. | 25 |
(3) “Disposes of” means sells, lets on hire, lends or gives. | |
(4) In relation to agreeing or arranging to do an act, it is immaterial whether the | |
act is agreed or arranged to take place in the United Kingdom or elsewhere. | |
(5) This section has effect for the purposes of section 1. | |
4 Customs and Excise prosecutions | 30 |
(1) Proceedings for an offence relating to the dealing in a tainted cultural object | |
may be instituted by order of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise if it | |
appears to them that the offence has involved the importation or exportation | |
of such an object. | |
(2) An offence relates to the dealing in a tainted cultural object if it is— | 35 |
(a) an offence under section 1, or | |
(b) an offence of inciting the commission of, or attempting or conspiring to | |
commit, such an offence. | |
(3) Proceedings for an offence which are instituted under subsection (1) are to be | |
commenced in the name of an officer, but may be continued by another officer. | 40 |
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(4) Where the Commissioners of Customs and Excise investigate, or propose to | |
investigate, any matter with a view to determining— | |
(a) whether there are grounds for believing that a person has committed an | |
offence which relates to the dealing in a tainted cultural object and | |
which involves the importation or exportation of such an object, or | 5 |
(b) whether a person should be prosecuted for such an offence, | |
the matter is to be treated as an assigned matter within the meaning of the | |
Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c. 2). | |
(5) Nothing in this section affects any powers of any person (including any officer) | |
apart from this section. | 10 |
(6) “Officer” means a person commissioned by the Commissioners of Customs | |
and Excise under section 6(3) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. | |
5 Offences by bodies corporate | |
(1) If an offence under section 1 committed by a body corporate is proved— | |
(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer, or | 15 |
(b) to be attributable to any neglect on his part, | |
he (as well as the body corporate) is guilty of the offence and liable to be | |
proceeded against and punished accordingly. | |
(2) “Officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means— | |
(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, | 20 |
(b) a person purporting to act in any such capacity. | |
(3) If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) | |
applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his | |
functions of management as if he were a director of the body. | |
6 Short title, commencement and extent | 25 |
(1) This Act may be cited as the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003. | |
(2) This Act comes into force at the end of the period of two months beginning | |
with the day on which it is passed. | |
(3) This Act does not extend to Scotland. | |
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