Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (c. 36)

(The document as of February, 2008)

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Part 4 Approval of apparatus etc

Approval of apparatus

69 Approval of apparatus

(1) This section applies where an instrument falling within subsection (2) contains provision framed by reference to relevant apparatus for the time being approved under this section for the purposes of that instrument.

(2) The instruments are--

(a) wireless telegraphy licences granted under section 8;

(b) regulations made under section 8(3);

(d) restriction orders made under section 62;

(e) authorities given under section 62(5).

(3) The relevant authority may approve relevant apparatus for the purposes of such an instrument.

(4) The relevant authority may require a person applying for an approval under this section to comply with such requirements as the relevant authority may think appropriate; and those requirements may include a requirement to satisfy some other person with respect to a particular matter.

(5) An approval under this section may apply--

(a) to particular apparatus or to apparatus of a description specified in the approval;

(b) for the purposes of a particular instrument or for the purposes of instruments that are of a description specified in the approval.

(6) An approval under this section may specify conditions that must be complied with if the approval is to apply to apparatus specified in the approval (or to apparatus of a description so specified) for purposes specified in the approval.

(7) A condition so specified may impose on the person to whom the approval is given a requirement to satisfy a person from time to time with respect to a particular matter.

(8) The relevant authority may at any time vary or withdraw an approval given by the relevant authority under this section.

70 Approvals: supplementary

(1) A person appointed by the relevant authority may exercise a function conferred on the relevant authority by section 69 to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the appointment.

(2) The relevant authority may by order provide for the charging of fees in respect of the exercise of a function in pursuance of section 69 by or on behalf of the relevant authority.

(3) Section 128 of the Finance Act 1990 (c. 29) (power to provide for repayment of fees etc) applies in relation to the power under subsection (2) to make an order as it applies in relation to any power to make such an order conferred before that Act was passed.

(4) An appointment under subsection (1) may authorise the person appointed to retain any fees received by him in pursuance of an order under subsection (2).

(5) Nothing in subsection (2) precludes a person (not being the relevant authority or a person acting on behalf of the relevant authority) by whom a matter falls to be determined for the purposes of a requirement imposed in pursuance of section 69(4) or (7) from charging a fee in respect of the carrying out of a test or other assessment made by him.

(6) Any sums received by the Secretary of State under this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

71 The relevant authority

(1) In sections 69 and 70 "the relevant authority" means (subject to subsection (2))--

(a) in such cases as may be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State; and

(b) in any other case, OFCOM.

(2) Where an application for the purposes of section 69 is made to the Secretary of State or OFCOM and it appears to the person to whom it is made that it should have been made to the other--

(a) that person is to refer the application to the other; and

(b) the application is to be proceeded with as if made to the person to whom it is referred.

Marking etc of apparatus

72 Information etc on or with apparatus

(1) This section applies where it appears to OFCOM to be expedient that relevant apparatus of a particular description should be marked with or accompanied by particular information or instruction relating to--

(a) the apparatus; or

(b) its installation or use.

(2) OFCOM may by order--

(a) impose requirements for securing that relevant apparatus of that description is so marked or accompanied; and

(b) regulate or prohibit the supply of such relevant apparatus in cases where the requirements are not complied with.

(3) The requirements imposed by the order may extend to the form and manner in which the information or instruction is given.

(4) In the case of apparatus supplied in circumstances where the required information or instruction would not be conveyed until after delivery, an order under this section may require the whole or part of the information or instruction to be also displayed near the apparatus.

(5) The approval of the Secretary of State is required for the making by OFCOM of an order under this section.

(6) A statutory instrument containing an order made by OFCOM under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

73 Information etc in advertisements

(1) This section applies where it appears to OFCOM to be expedient that a particular description of advertisements for relevant apparatus should contain or refer to particular information relating to--

(a) the apparatus; or

(b) its installation or use.

(2) OFCOM may by order impose requirements as to the inclusion in advertisements of that description of--

(a) that information; or

(b) an indication of the means by which that information may be obtained.

(3) An order under this section may specify the form and manner in which the information or indication required by the order is to be included in a particular description of advertisements.

(4) The approval of the Secretary of State is required for the making by OFCOM of an order under this section.

(5) A statutory instrument containing an order made by OFCOM under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

74 Offences

(1) A person commits an offence if in the course of a trade or business he supplies, or offers to supply, apparatus in contravention of an order under section 72.

(2) A person is to be treated as offering to supply apparatus if--

(a) he exposes apparatus for supply, or

(b) he has apparatus in his possession for supply.

(3) A person who publishes an advertisement for apparatus to be supplied in the course of a trade or business commits an offence if the advertisement fails to comply with a requirement imposed by an order under section 73.

(4) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (3) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(5) Proceedings for an offence under this section may be commenced at any time within the period of 12 months beginning with the day after the commission of the offence.

75 Default of third person

(1) Where the commission by one person ("A") of an offence under section 74(1) or (3) is due to the act or default of another ("B"), B also commits the offence; and B may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this subsection whether or not proceedings are taken against A.

(2) In proceedings for an offence under section 74(1) or (3) it is a defence for the defendant to prove that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.

(3) A person may not rely on a defence under subsection (2) which involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person unless--

(a) at least seven clear days before the hearing he has given to the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of the other person as was then in his possession; or

(b) the court grants him leave.

(4) In proceedings for an offence under section 74(3) it is a defence for the defendant to prove that--

(a) at the time of the alleged offence he was a person whose business it was to publish or arrange for the publication of advertisements;

(b) he received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business; and

(c) he did not know and had no reason to suspect that publication of the advertisement would amount to an offence under that subsection.

Interpretation

76 Part 4: interpretation

In this Part--

"advertisement" includes a catalogue, a circular and a price list;
"relevant apparatus" means wireless telegraphy apparatus or apparatus designed or adapted for use in connection with wireless telegraphy apparatus.

Part 5 Prohibition of broadcasting from sea or air

Prohibitions

77 Broadcasting from ships and aircraft

(1) It is unlawful--

(a) in the case of any ship or aircraft, to make a broadcast from it while it is in or over the United Kingdom or external waters; or

(b) in the case of a British-registered ship or British-registered aircraft, to make a broadcast from it while it is not in or over the United Kingdom or external waters.

(2) If a broadcast is made from a ship in contravention of subsection (1), an offence is committed by--

(a) the owner of the ship;

(b) the master of the ship; and

(3) If a broadcast is made from an aircraft in contravention of subsection (1), an offence is committed by--

(a) the operator of the aircraft;

(b) the commander of the aircraft; and

(4) A person commits an offence if he procures a broadcast to be made in contravention of subsection (1).

(5) In this section--

"master", in relation to a ship, includes any other person (except a pilot) who has command or charge of the ship;
"operator", in relation to an aircraft, means the person who at the relevant time has the management of the aircraft.

78 Broadcasting from marine structures etc

(1) This section applies to--

(a) tidal waters in the United Kingdom;

(b) external waters;

(2) It is unlawful to make a broadcast from--

(a) a structure, other than a ship, that is affixed to, or supported by, the bed of waters to which this section applies, or

(b) any other object in those waters.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply by virtue of paragraph (b) to a broadcast made from a ship or aircraft.

(4) A person commits an offence if he operates, or participates in the operation of, apparatus by means of which a broadcast is made in contravention of subsection (2).

(5) A person commits an offence if he procures a broadcast to be made in contravention of subsection (2).

79 Broadcasting from prescribed areas of high seas

(1) It is unlawful--

(a) to make a broadcast that is capable of being received in the United Kingdom, or

(b) to make a broadcast that causes interference with any wireless telegraphy in the United Kingdom,

from a ship (other than a British-registered ship) while it is within a prescribed area of the high seas.

(2) If a broadcast is made in contravention of subsection (1), an offence is committed by--

(a) the owner of the ship from which the broadcast is made;

(b) the master of the ship; and

(3) A person commits an offence if he procures a broadcast to be made in contravention of subsection (1).

(4) The making of a broadcast does not contravene subsection (1) if it is shown to have been authorised under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

(5) "Prescribed" means prescribed for the purposes of this section by an order made by the Secretary of State.

80 Acts connected with broadcasting

(1) A British person commits an offence if he operates, or participates in the operation of, apparatus by means of which a broadcast is made--

(a) from a ship (other than a British-registered ship) while it is on the high seas;

(b) from an aircraft (other than a British-registered aircraft) while it is on or over the high seas;

(d) from an object on the high seas (other than a structure falling within paragraph (c), a ship or an aircraft).

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply--

(a) by virtue of paragraph (a), to a broadcast made in contravention of section 79(1);

(b) by virtue of paragraph (c) or (d), to a broadcast made from a structure or other object in waters in a designated area.

(3) A person commits an offence if he procures a broadcast to be made as mentioned in subsection (1).

81 Management of station

(1) A person commits an offence if, from anywhere in the United Kingdom or external waters, he participates in the management, financing, operation or day-to-day running of a broadcasting station by which broadcasts are made--

(a) in contravention of section 77(1), 78(2) or 79(1); or

(b) as mentioned in section 80(1)(a).

(2) In this section "broadcasting station" means a business or other operation (whether or not in the nature of a commercial venture) that is engaged in the making of broadcasts.

82 Facilitating broadcasting from ships or aircraft

(1) A person commits an offence if he provides a ship or aircraft to another, or agrees to do so, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that broadcasts are to be made from it--

(a) in contravention of section 77(1); or

(b) while it is on or over the high seas.

(2) A person commits an offence if--

(a) he carries wireless telegraphy apparatus in a ship or aircraft, or agrees to do so, or

(b) he supplies wireless telegraphy apparatus to a ship or aircraft, or instals such apparatus in a ship or aircraft,

knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that by means of the apparatus broadcasts are to be made from the ship or aircraft as mentioned in subsection (1).

(3) A person commits an offence if--

(a) he supplies goods or materials--

(i) for the operation or maintenance of a ship or aircraft,

(ii) for the operation or maintenance of wireless telegraphy apparatus installed in a ship or aircraft, or

(iii) for the sustenance or comfort of the persons on board a ship or aircraft,

(b) he carries by water or air goods or persons to or from a ship or aircraft, or

knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that broadcasts are made, or are to be made, from the ship or aircraft as mentioned in subsection (1).

(4) In proceedings for an offence under this section consisting in carrying goods or persons to or from a ship or aircraft, it is a defence for the defendant to prove--

(a) that the ship or aircraft was, or was believed to be, wrecked, stranded or in distress, and that the goods or persons were carried for the purpose of--

(i) preserving the ship or aircraft, or its cargo or equipment, or

(ii) saving the lives of persons on board the ship or aircraft; or

(b) that a person on board the ship or aircraft was, or was believed to be, hurt, injured or ill, and that the goods or persons were carried for the purpose of securing that he received the necessary surgical or medical advice and attendance.

(5) The reference in subsection (4)(a) to persons carried for the purpose of saving lives is not to be read as excluding the persons whose lives were to be saved.

(6) The reference in subsection (4)(b) to persons carried for the purpose of securing that advice and attendance were received is not to be read as excluding the person who was (or was believed to be) hurt, injured or ill.

(7) In proceedings for an offence under this section consisting in carrying a person ("A") to or from a ship or aircraft, it is a defence for the defendant to prove that A was visiting the ship or aircraft for the purpose of exercising or performing a power or duty conferred or imposed on A by law.

(8) This section is subject to section 86.

83 Facilitating broadcasting from structures etc

(1) A person commits an offence if he instals wireless telegraphy apparatus on or in a structure or other object, or supplies such apparatus for installation on or in a structure or other object, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that by means of the apparatus broadcasts are to be made from it--

(a) in contravention of section 78(2); or

(b) while it is on the high seas.

(2) A person commits an offence if, in the case of a structure or other object--

(a) he supplies goods or materials--

(i) for its maintenance,

(ii) for the operation or maintenance of wireless telegraphy apparatus installed in or on it, or

(iii) for the sustenance or comfort of the persons in or on it,

(b) he carries goods or persons to or from it by water or air, or

knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that broadcasts are made, or are to be made, from the structure or other object as mentioned in subsection (1).

(3) In proceedings for an offence under this section consisting in carrying goods or persons to or from a structure or other object, it is a defence for the defendant to prove--

(a) that it was, or was believed to be, unsafe, and that the goods or persons were carried for the purpose of saving the lives of persons in or on it; or

(b) that a person in or on it was, or was believed to be, hurt, injured or ill, and that the goods or persons were carried for the purpose of securing that he received the necessary surgical or medical advice and attendance.

(4) The reference in subsection (3)(a) to persons carried for the purpose of saving lives is not to be read as excluding the persons whose lives were to be saved.

(5) The reference in subsection (3)(b) to persons carried for the purpose of securing that advice and attendance were received is not to be read as excluding the person who was (or was believed to be) hurt, injured or ill.

(6) In proceedings for an offence under this section consisting in carrying a person ("A") to or from a structure or other object, it is a defence for the defendant to prove that A was visiting it for the purpose of exercising or performing a power or duty conferred or imposed on A by law.

(7) In this section references to a structure or other object do not include references to a ship or aircraft.

(8) This section is subject to section 86.

84 Maintaining or repairing apparatus

(1) A person commits an offence if he repairs or maintains wireless telegraphy apparatus knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that by means of it broadcasts are made, or are to be made--

(a) in contravention of section 77(1), 78(2) or 79(1); or

(b) as mentioned in section 80(1).

(2) This section is subject to section 86.

85 Acts relating to broadcast material

(1) A person commits an offence if--

(a) he supplies a film or sound recording knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that an unlawful broadcast is to be made of it;

(b) he makes a literary, dramatic or musical work knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that an unlawful broadcast is to be made of it;

(c) he makes an artistic work knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that it is to be included in an unlawful television broadcast;

(d) he participates in an unlawful broadcast;

(e) he advertises by means of an unlawful broadcast or invites another to advertise by means of an unlawful broadcast that is to be made;

(f) he publishes the times or other details of unlawful broadcasts that are to be made, or (otherwise than by publishing such details) publishes an advertisement of matter calculated to promote (whether directly or indirectly) the interests of a business whose activities consist in or include the operation of a station from which unlawful broadcasts are or are to be made.

(2) An unlawful broadcast is a broadcast made--

(a) in contravention of section 77(1), 78(2) or 79(1); or

(b) as mentioned in section 80(1).

(3) A person participates in a broadcast only if he is actually present--

(a) as an announcer;

(b) as a performer or one of the performers concerned in an entertainment given; or

(4) The cases in which a person is to be taken for the purposes of this section as advertising by means of a broadcast include any case in which he causes or allows it to be stated, suggested or implied that entertainment included in the broadcast--

(a) has been supplied by him; or

(b) is provided wholly or partly at his expense.

(5) For the purposes of this section advertising by means of a broadcast takes place not only where the broadcast is made but also wherever it is received.

(6) This section is subject to section 86.

86 Facilitation offences: territorial scope

(1) A person who does an act mentioned in section 82, 83, 84 or 85 does not commit an offence under that section unless condition A, B, C, D or E is satisfied.

(2) Condition A is satisfied if he does the act in the United Kingdom or external waters.

(3) Condition B is satisfied if he does the act in a British-registered ship or British-registered aircraft while it is not in or over the United Kingdom or external waters.

(4) Condition C is satisfied if, in a case where--

(a) neither condition A nor condition B is satisfied, but

(b) the broadcasts in question are made, or are to be made, from a structure or other object (which is not a ship or aircraft) in waters in a designated area,

he does the act on that structure or other object within those waters.

(5) Condition D is satisfied if, in a case where--

(a) neither condition A nor condition B is satisfied, but

(b) the broadcasts in question are made, or are to be made, from a ship in contravention of section 79(1),

he does the act in that ship within an area of the high seas that is prescribed for the purposes of section 79.

(6) Condition E is satisfied if--

(a) he is a British person; and

(b) he does the act on or over the high seas.

87 Procuring person to commit offence abroad

A person commits an offence if he procures, in the United Kingdom, another person to do, outside the United Kingdom, anything that would have constituted an offence under sections 82 to 85 had the other person done it in the United Kingdom.

Enforcement

88 Enforcement officers

(1) For the purposes of sections 89 to 92 enforcement officers are--

(a) persons authorised by the Secretary of State or OFCOM to exercise the powers conferred by sections 89 and 90;

(b) police officers;

(d) officers of Revenue and Customs; and

(e) other persons who are British sea-fishery officers by virtue of section 7(1) of the Sea Fisheries Act 1968 (c. 77).

(2) A reference in sections 89 to 92, in relation to an enforcement officer, to an assistant is a reference to a person assigned to assist the enforcement officer in his duties.

(3) In this section "armed forces" means the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the regular army and the regular air force, and a reserve or auxiliary force of any of those services that has been called out on permanent service or embodied.

89 Enforcement powers

(1) If conditions A and B are satisfied in the case of a ship, structure or other object, an enforcement officer may, with or without assistants, exercise the powers mentioned in subsection (4) in relation to it.

(2) Condition A is satisfied if the enforcement officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that--

(a) an offence under this Part has been or is being committed by the making of a broadcast--

(i) from a ship, structure or other object in external waters or in tidal waters in the United Kingdom, or

(ii) from a British-registered ship while it is on the high seas;

(b) an offence under section 78 has been or is being committed by the making of a broadcast from a structure or other object in waters in a designated area; or

(3) Condition B is satisfied if a written authorisation has been issued by the Secretary of State or OFCOM for the exercise of the powers mentioned in subsection (4) in relation to that ship, structure or other object.

(4) The powers are--

(a) to board and search the ship, structure or other object;

(b) to seize and detain it, and any apparatus or other thing found in the course of the search that appears to him--

(i) to have been used, or to have been intended to be used, in connection with the commission of the suspected offence, or

(ii) to be evidence of the commission of the suspected offence;

(c) to arrest and search any person who he has reasonable grounds to suspect has committed or is committing an offence under this Part if--

(i) the person is on board the ship, structure or other object, or

(ii) the officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person was on board at, or shortly before, the time when the officer boarded the object;

(d) to arrest any person--

(i) who assaults him, or an assistant of his, while exercising any of the powers mentioned in this subsection, or

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