An Act to make provision as to the exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf; to enable effect to be given to certain provisions of the Convention on the High Seas done in Geneva on 29th April 1958; and for matters connected with those purposes.
[15th April 1964]
Commencement Information
I1Act wholly in force at Royal Assent.
(1)Any rights exercisable by the United Kingdom outside territorial waters with respect to the sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources, except so far as they are exercisable in relation to coal, are hereby vested in Her Majesty.
F1(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)In relation to any petroleum with respect to which those rights are exercisable sections 2 and 6 of the M1Petroleum (Production) Act 1934 (which relate to the granting of licences to search and bore for, and get, petroleum) shall apply as they apply in relation to petroleum in Great Britain, and section 3 of that Act (which enables persons holding licences under that Act to acquire ancillary rights) and section 5 of that Act (which makes provision as to receipts and expenditure under that Act) shall have effect as if this subsection were part of that Act.
F2(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3
(6)The general duty of [F4the Secretary of State] of securing the effective and co-ordinated development of such resources in Great Britain as are mentioned in section 1(1) of the M2Ministry of Fuel and Power Act 1945 shall extend to any such resources outside Great Britain with respect to which the said rights are exercisable.
(7)Her Majesty may from time to time by Order in Council designate any area as an area within which the rights mentioned in subsection (1) of this section are exercisable, and any area so designated is in this Act referred to as a designated area [F5; and the power to make Orders under this subsection shall include power to revoke Orders for the purpose of consolidating them.]
(8)In this section “coal” has the same meaning as in the M3Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 and “petroleum” has the same meaning as in the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934.
Textual Amendments
F1S. 1(2) repealed (31.10.1994) by 1994 c. 21, ss. 67, 68(2), Sch. 11 Pt. II (with ss. 40(7), 66); S.I. 1994/2553, art. 2
F2S. 1(4) repealed (E.W.S.)(30.11.1993) by Offshore Safety Act 1992 (c. 15), ss. 3(1)(a), 7(2), Sch. 2; S.I. 1993/2406, art. 2
F4Words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1969/1498, arts. 2(1), 5(6) and 1970/1537, arts. 2(2), 7(4).
F5Words inserted by Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 86), s. 37, Sch. 3 para. 1
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments
F6S. 2 repealed and superseded by Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 86), s. 21(11), Sch. 4
Textual Amendments
F7S. 3 repealed and superseded by Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 86), s. 22(8), Sch. 4
(1)Part II of the M4Coast Protection Act 1949 (which requires the consent of [F8the Board of Trade] to the carrying out of certain works on the sea shore if obstruction or danger to navigation is likely to result) except section 34(1)(b) (which restricts the deposit of materials) shall apply in relation to any part of the sea bed in a designated area as it applies in relation to the sea shore; and section 46 of that Act (local inquiries) shall extend to any matter arising under this section.
(2)Any person guilty of an offence under the said Part II as applied by this section shall be liable, on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and on conviction on indictment to a fine.
Textual Amendments
F8Words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1965/145, arts 2, 3(2), Sch. 1
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments
F9S. 5 repealed by Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971 (c. 60), Sch.
An Order in Council under [F10section 23 of the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982] may make provision for treating for the purposes of the M5Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 and any regulations made thereunder any installation in [F11waters to which that section applies and] with respect to which provision is made under that section and any waters within five hundred metres of such an installation as if they were situated in such part of the United Kingdom as may be specified in the Order.
Textual Amendments
F10Words substituted by Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 86), s. 37, Sch. 3 para. 2
F11Words substituted by Telecommunications Act 1984 (c. 12, SIF 96), s. 107(2)
Marginal Citations
An Order in Council under [F12section 23 of the Oil and Gas Enterprise Act 1982] may make provision for treating for the purposes of the [F13Radioactive Substances Act 1993] and any orders and regulations made thereunder any installation in an area or part with respect to which provision is made under that section and any waters within five hundred metres of such an installation as if they were situated in such part of the United Kingdom as may be specified in the Order, and for modifying the provisions of that Act in their application to such an installation or waters.
Textual Amendments
F12Words substituted by Oil and Gas Enterprise Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 86), s. 37, Sch. 3 para. 2
F13Words in s. 7 substituted (27.8.1993) by 1993 c. 12, ss. 49(1), 51(2), Sch. 4 para.1
(1)Section 3 (punishment for damaging cables) of the M6Submarine Telegraph Act 1885 and Article IV and paragraph 1 of Article VII (liability to pay compensation for damage to cables and for loss of gear sacrificed to avoid such damage) of the Convention set out in the Schedule to that Act (which by virtue of section 2 thereof has the force of law) shall apply in relation to all submarine cables under the high seas (and not only to those to which that Convention applies) and to pipe-lines under the high seas; and the said section 3 shall be construed as referring to telephonic as well as telegraphic communication, and, in relation to high-voltage power cables and to pipe-lines, as if the words from “in such manner” to the end of subsection (1) were omitted.
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14
Textual Amendments
F14S. 8(2) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 (c. 22), Sch. Pt XI
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 8(1) explained by Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975 (c. 74), s. 45(1)
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments
F15S. 9 repealed by Energy Act 1976 (c. 76), s. 22, Sch. 4 Pt. I
Textual Amendments
(1)Proceedings for any offence [F17under another Act as applied by or under this Act] may be taken, and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the United Kingdom.
(2)Where a body corporate is guilty of such an offence and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
In this subsection, “director” in relation to a body corporate established for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18
Textual Amendments
F17Words substituted by Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c. 23, SIF 96), s. 37, Sch. 3 para. 3
In this Act “installation” includes any floating structure or device maintained on a station by whatever means.]
Textual Amendments
Textual Amendments
This Act may be cited as the Continental Shelf Act 1964.