The Sierra Leone (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2000

Statutory Instruments

2000 No. 1822

UNITED NATIONS

The Sierra Leone (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2000

Made

12th July 2000

Laid before Parliament

13th July 2000

Coming into force

14th July 2000

At the Court of Buckingham Palace, the 12th day of July 2000

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Whereas under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations the Security Council of the United Nations has, by a resolution adopted on 5th July 2000, called upon Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and all other States to apply certain measures to give effect to a decision of that Council in relation to Sierra Leone:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred on Her by section 1 of the United Nations Act 1946(1), is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

Citation, commencement, operation and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Sierra Leone (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2000 and shall come into force on 14th July 2000.

(2) (a) Subject to sub-paragraph (b) below, this Order shall remain in force until 5th January 2002.

(b) If the Security Council of the United Nations takes any decision which has the effect of cancelling, extending or suspending the operation of the resolution adopted by it on 5th July 2000, in whole or in part, this Order shall cease to have effect or its operation shall be extended or suspended, in whole or in part, as the case may be, in accordance with that decision; and particulars of that decision shall be published by the Governor in a notice in the official Gazette of the Territory.

(3) (a) This Order shall extend to the territories listed in Schedule 1 to this Order.

(b) In the application of this Order to any of the said territories the expression “the Territory” in this Order means that territory.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order, “Governor” means the Governor or other officer administering the government of the Territory.

(2) In paragraphs 2(1)(a) and 4(d) of Schedule 2, references to an offence under any enactment relating to customs include references to any offence against any provision of law with respect to any of the matters regulated by this Order that is for the time being in force in any territory to which this Order extends.

Importation of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone

3.—(1) Except under the authority of a written licence granted by the Governor under this article, no person shall import directly or indirectly to the Territory any rough diamond exported from Sierra Leone on or after 5th July 2000.

(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this article, any person who contravenes the provisions of paragraph (1) of this article shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

(3) In the case of proceedings for an offence in contravention of this article, it shall be a defence for the accused person to prove that he did not know and had no reason to suppose that the diamonds in question had been exported from Sierra Leone on or after 5th July 2000.

Offences in connection with applications for written licences, conditions attaching to licences, etc.

4.—(1) If for the purposes of obtaining any written licence under article 3(1) of this Order any person makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which to his knowledge is false in a material particular or recklessly makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which is false in a material particular he shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

(2) Any person who has done any act under the authority of a written licence granted by the Governor under this Order and who fails to comply with any condition attaching to that licence shall be guilty of an offence under this Order:

• Provided that no person shall be guilty of an offence under this paragraph where he proves that the condition with which he failed to comply was modified, otherwise than with his consent, by the Governor after the doing of the act authorised by the licence.

Obtaining of evidence and information

5.  The provisions of Schedule 2 to this Order shall have effect in order to facilitate the obtaining, by or on behalf of the Governor, of evidence and information for the purpose of securing compliance with or detecting evasion of this Order and in order to facilitate the obtaining, by or on behalf of the Governor, of evidence of the commission of an offence under this Order or, with respect to any of the matters regulated by this Order, of an offence relating to customs.

Penalties and Proceedings

6.—(1) Any person guilty of an offence under article 3(2) of this Order shall be liable:

(a) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to a fine or to both; or

(b) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent or to both.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph 5(b) or (d) of Schedule 2 to this Order shall be liable:

(a) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both; or

(b) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent or to both.

(3) Any person guilty of an offence under article 4(1) or(2) of this Order shall be liable:

(a) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both;

(b) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent.

(4) Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph 5(a) or (c) of Schedule 2 to this Order shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent or to both.

(5) Where any body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Order, and that 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 that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(6) Summary proceedings for an offence under this Order, being an offence alleged to have been committed outside the Territory, may be instituted at any time not later than 12 months from the date on which the person charged first enters the Territory after committing the offence.

(7) Proceedings against any person for an offence under this Order may be taken before the appropriate court in the Territory having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being.

(8) No proceedings for an offence under this Order shall be instituted in the Territory except by or with the consent of the principal public officer of the Territory having responsibility for criminal prosecutions:

• Provided that this paragraph shall not prevent the arrest, or the issue or execution of a warrant for the arrest, of any person in respect of such an offence, or the remand in custody or on bail of any person charged with such an offence, notwithstanding that the necessary consent to the institution of proceedings for the offence has not been obtained.

Exercise of Powers of the Governor

7.—(1) The Governor may, to such extent and subject to such restrictions and conditions as he may think proper, delegate or authorise the delegation of any of his powers under this Order to any person, or class or description of persons, approved by him, and references in this Order to the Governor shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Any written licences granted under this Order may be either general or special, may be subject to or without conditions, may be limited so as to expire on a specified date unless renewed and may be varied or revoked by the authority that granted them.

Miscellaneous

8.—(1) Any provision of this Order which prohibits the doing of a thing except under the authority of a licence granted by the Governor shall not have effect in relation to any such thing done anywhere other than the Territory provided that it is duly authorised.

(2) A thing is duly authorised for the purpose of paragraph (1) of this article if it is done under the authority of a licence granted in accordance with any law in force in the place where it is done (being a law substantially corresponding to the relevant provisions of this Order) by the authority competent in that behalf under that law.

A. K. Galloway

Clerk of the Privy Council

Article 1(3)(a)

SCHEDULE 1 Territories

• Anguilla

• Bermuda

• British Antarctic Territory

• British Indian Ocean Territory

• British Virgin Islands

• Cayman Islands

• Falkland Islands

• Gibraltar

• Montserrat

• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands

• St Helena

• St Helena Dependencies

• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

• Turks and Caicos Islands

• The UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the island of Cyprus.

Article 5

SCHEDULE 2 Evidence and Information

1.—(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Order, or any provision of any other law, the Governor (or any person authorised by him for that purpose either generally or in a particular case) may request any person in or resident in the Territory to furnish to him (or to that authorised person) any information in his possession or control, or to produce to him (or to that authorised person) any document in his possession or control, which he (or that authorised person) may require for the purpose of securing compliance with or detecting evasion of this Order: and any person to whom such a request is made shall comply with it within such time and in such manner as may be specified in the request.

(2) Nothing in the foregoing sub-paragraph shall be taken to require any person who has acted as counsel or solicitor for any person to disclose any privileged communication made to him in that capacity.

(3) Where a person is convicted of failing to furnish information or produce a document when requested so to do under this paragraph, the court may make an order requiring him, within such period as may be specified in the order, to furnish the information or produce the document.

(4) The power conferred by this paragraph to request any person to produce documents shall include power to take copies of or extracts from any document so produced and to request that person, or, where that person is a body corporate, any other person who is a present or past officer of, or is employed by, the body corporate, to provide an explanation of any of them.

2.—(1) If any justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath given by any police officer or constable or person authorised by the Governor to act for the purposes of this paragraph either generally or in a particular case:

(a) that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that an offence under this Order or, with respect to any of the matters regulated by this Order, an offence under any enactment relating to customs has been or is being committed and that evidence of the commission of the offence is to be found on any premises specified in the information, or in any vehicle, ship or aircraft so specified; or

(b) that any documents which ought to have been produced under paragraph 1 of this Schedule and have not been produced are to be found on any such premises or in any such vehicle, ship or aircraft,

he may grant a search warrant authorising any police officer or constable, together with any other persons named in the warrant and any other police officers or constables, to enter the premises specified in the information or, as the case may be, any premises upon which the vehicle, ship or aircraft so specified may be, at any time within one month from the date of the warrant and to search the premises, or as the case may be, the vehicle, ship or aircraft.

(2) Any authorised person who has entered any premises or any vehicle, ship or aircraft in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) above may do any or all of the following things:

(a) inspect and search the premises or any vehicle, ship or aircraft for any material which he has reasonable grounds to believe may be evidence in relation to an offence referred to in this paragraph;

(b) seize anything on the premises or on any vehicle, ship or aircraft which he has reasonable grounds for believing is evidence in relation to an offence referred to in this paragraph;

(c) seize anything on the premises or on any vehicle, ship or aircraft which he has reasonable grounds to believe is required to be produced in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Schedule; or

(d) seize anything that is necessary to be seized in order to prevent it being concealed, lost, damaged, altered or destroyed.

(3) Any information required in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) above which is contained in a computer and is accessible from the premises or from any vehicle, ship or aircraft must be produced in a form in which it can be taken away and in which it is visible and legible.

(4) A police officer or constable lawfully on the premises or on the vehicle, ship or aircraft by virtue of a warrant issued under sub-paragraph (1) above may:

(a) search any person whom he has reasonable grounds to believe may be in the act of committing an offence referred to in this paragraph; and

(b) seize anything he finds in a search referred to in sub-sub-paragraph (a) above, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that it is evidence of an offence referred to in this paragraph:

• Provided that no persons shall in pursuance of any warrant issued under this paragraph be searched except by a person of the same sex.

(5) Where, by virtue of this paragraph, a person is empowered to enter any premises, vehicle, ship or aircraft he may use such force as is reasonably necessary for that purpose.

(6) Any documents or articles of which possession is taken under this paragraph may be retained for a period of three months or, if within that period there are commenced any proceedings for such an offence as aforesaid to which they are relevant, until the conclusion of those proceedings.

3.  A person authorised by the Governor to exercise any power for the purposes of this Schedule shall, if requested to do so, produce evidence of his authority before exercising that power.

4.  No information furnished or document produced (including any copy of an extract made of any document produced) by any person in pursuance of a request made under this Schedule and no document seized under paragraph 2(2) of this Schedule shall be disclosed except—

(a) with the consent of the person by whom the information was furnished or the document was produced or the person from whom the document was seized:

• Provided that a person who has obtained information or is in possession of a document only in his capacity as servant or agent of another person may not give consent for the purposes of this sub-paragraph but such consent may instead be given by any person who is entitled to that information or to the possession of that document in his own right; or

(b) to any person who would have been empowered under this Schedule to request that it be furnished or produced or any person holding or acting in any office under or in the service of the Crown in respect of the Government of the United Kingdom or under or in the service of the Government of the Isle of Man or under or in the service of the States of Guernsey or Alderney or the Chief Pleas of Sark or, as the case may be, the States of Jersey, or under or in the service of the Government of any territory to which this Order extends; or

(c) on the authority of the Secretary of State, to any organ of the United Nations or to any person in the service of the United Nations or to the Government of any other country for the purpose of assisting the United Nations or that Government in securing compliance with or detecting evasion of measures in relation to Sierra Leone decided upon by the Security Council of the United Nations; or

(d) with a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purposes of, any proceedings for an offence under this Order or, with respect to any of the matters regulated by this Order, for an offence under any enactment relating to customs.

5.  Any person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails within the time and in the manner specified (or, if no time has been specified, within a reasonable time) to comply with any request made under this Schedule by any person who is empowered to make it; or

(b) furnishes any information or produces any document which to his knowledge is false in a material particular, or recklessly furnishes any information or produces any document which is false in a material particular, to any person exercising his powers under this Schedule; or

(c) otherwise wilfully obstructs any person in the exercise of his powers under this Schedule; or

(d) with intent to evade the provisions of this Schedule, destroys, mutilates, defaces, secretes or removes any document,

shall be guilty of an offence under this Order.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, made under the United Nations Act 1946, applies to each of the territories specified in Schedule 1. It imposes restrictions, pursuant to a decision of the Security Council of the United Nations in its resolution 1306 of 5th July 2000, on the import of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone.

(1)

1946 c. 45.