User:TheScottishElephant/sandbox/UK Knife Law

UK Knife Law The 1689 Bill of Rights ensured that only Parliament and not the King could restrict the right of the people to bear arms. Over the last 60 years, Parliament has enacted a series of increasingly restrictive laws and acts regarding the possession and use of knives and bladed tools. The United Kingdom (to include England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) has one of the most comprehensive set of laws of any developed nation restricting most of the rights to import, purchase, possess, sell, and carry knives. Ambulance service data gathered in 2009 suggests a slow increase in knife crime incidents in the UK although the overall rate remains low.

Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959
The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 (amended 1961) (ROWA), prohibits the importation, sale, hire, lending, or gift of certain types of knives in England, Wales, and Scotland as of 13 June 1959 under Section 1:


 * (1) Any person who manufactures, sells or hires or offers for sale or hire, or exposes or has in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire or lends or gives to any other person—
 * (a) any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, sometimes known as a flick knife or "flick gun"; or
 * (b) any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force and which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever, or other device, sometimes known as a gravity knife,
 * shall be guilty of an offence [...]

Subsection 2 also makes it illegal to import knives of this type as of 13 June 1959. The above legislation criminalizes the conduct of the original owner or transferor of an automatic-opening or gravity knife, not the new owner or transferee; in addition, the statute does not criminalize possession of such knives other than possession for the purpose of sale or hire. It is therefore not illegal per se to merely possess such a knife, though the difficulties of acquiring one without violating the statute makes it (almost) impossible to obtain one without either committing or abetting an offence.

Criminal Justice Act 1988
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 mainly relates to carrying knives in public places, Section 139 being the most important:
 * (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, any person who has an article to which this section applies with them in a public place shall be guilty of an offence.
 * (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except a folding pocketknife.
 * (3) This section applies to a folding pocketknife if the cutting edge of its blade exceeds 3 inches.
 * (4) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had good reason or lawful authority for having the article with him in a public place.

The definition of "public place" is unsettled, but can loosely be defined as anywhere the public have a legitimate right to be whether this access is paid for or not, which could include any populated area within the England and Wales, including one's motor vehicle, which is defined by law as a 'public place' unless parked on private property. In a remote or otherwise unpopulated area, a public place could include: 1) an organised wilderness gathering or event; 2) a National Park; 3) Forestry Commission land that is held open to the public; 4) public footpaths; 5) bridleways; and 6) any area where an individual does not need to ask specific permission to walk, camp, or travel from a landowner.

The phrase "good reason or lawful authority" in Subsection 4 is intended to allow for "common sense" possession of knives, so that it is legal to carry a knife if there is a bona fide reason to do so. Subsection 5 gives some specific examples of bona fide reasons: a knife for use at work (e.g. a chef's knife), as part of a national costume (e.g. a sgian dubh for Scottish Highland dress), or for religious reasons (e.g. a Sikh Kirpan). However, even these specific statutory exceptions have proven unavailing to knife owners at times. It is important to note that "good reason or lawful authority" exceptions may be difficult to establish for those not using a knife in the course of their trade or profession, but merely because the knife is needed in case of emergency or for occasional utility use.

Although English law insists that it is the responsibility of the prosecution to provide evidence proving a crime has been committed, an individual must provide evidence to prove that they had a "good reason or lawful authority" for carrying a knife (if this is the case) upon being detained. While this may appear to be a reversal of the usual burden of proof, technically the prosecution has already proven the case (prima facie) by establishing that a knife was being carried in a public place (see Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 on Knives, etc.; New powers to tackle gun and knife crime)

As the burden of proving "good reason or lawful authority" lies with the defendant, it is likely that an individual detained and searched by the police will need to prove the following (sometimes known as the THIS list): Has THIS person got permission; to use THIS article (knife); for THIS use; on THIS land; and by THIS land owner.

The special exception which exists in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Sec. 139) for folding knives (pocket knives) with blades less than 3 inches (76mm) long, is another "common sense" measure accepting that some small knives are carried for general utility; This exemption however only applies to folding knives without a locking mechanism. The wording of the Criminal Justice Act does not mention locking and so the definition of "folding pocket knife" was settled through case law. In the Crown Court appeal of Harris v. DPP (1992) and the Court of Appeal case of R. v Deegan (1998) the ruling that 'folding' was intended to mean 'non-locking' was upheld. As the only higher court in England and Wales to the Court of Appeal is the Supreme Court, the only way the decision in R. v. Deegan could be overturned is by a dissenting ruling by the Supreme Court or by Act of Parliament.

Offensive Weapons Act 1996
The Offensive Weapons Act 1996 covers the possession of knives within school premises:
 * (1) Any person who has an article to which section 139 of this Act applies with him on school premises shall be guilty of an offence.
 * (2) Any person who has an offensive weapon within the meaning of section 1 of the M1 Prevention of Crime Act 1953 with him on school premises shall be guilty of an offence.
 * (3) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) or (2) above to prove that he had good reason or lawful authority for having the article or weapon with him on the premises in question.
 * (4) (Subsection 4 gives the same specific exceptions as subsection 139(5) with the addition of "for educational purposes". This would appear to imply that all legislation on knives in public applies similarly to school premises, and therefore a folding pocket knife under 3 inches (76mm) in length would be considered legal.)

The Offensive Weapons Act 1996 imposes an age restriction on the sale of knives:
 * (1) Any person who sells to a person under the age of sixteen years an article to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence [...]
 * (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to—
 * (a) any knife, knife blade or razor blade...

In Scotland, the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence to sell knives to someone under 18 years of age (including any blade, razor blade, any bladed or pointed article, or any item made or adapted for causing personal injury.)

Knives Act 1997
The Knives Act 1997 prohibits the sale of combat knives and restricts the marketing of knives as offensive weapons.

Prevention of Crime Act 1953
The Prevention of Crime Act 1953 prohibits the possession in any public place of an offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. The term "offensive weapon" is defined as: "any article made or adapted for use to causing injury to the person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use".

Under the Prevention of Crime Act, otherwise 'exempt' knives carried for "good reason or lawful authority" may be still deemed illegal if authorities conclude the knife is being carried as an "offensive weapon". In recent years, the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 has been reinterpreted by police and public prosecutors, who have persuaded the courts to minimize exceptions to prosecution on the grounds that the defendant had "lawful authority or reasonable excuse" in order to apply the Act to a wide variety of cases. This new approach now includes prosecution of citizens who have admitted carrying a knife for the sole purpose of self-defence (in the eyes of the law, this is presently viewed as an admission that the defendant intends to use the knife as an "offensive weapon", albeit in a defensive manner, and in otherwise justifiable circumstances). While the onus lies on the officer to prove offensive intent, prosecutors and courts have in the past taken the appearance and the marketing of a particular brand of knife into account when considering whether an otherwise legal knife was being carried as an offensive weapon. In addition, the Knives Act 1997 now prohibits the sale of combat knives and restricts the marketing of knives as offensive weapons. A knife which is marketed as "tactical", "military", "special ops", etc. could therefore carry an extra liability.

Basic Knife Laws
gov.uk says that

It is illegal to

 * sell a knife to anyone under 18, unless it has a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less
 * carry a knife in public without good reason, unless it has a folding blade with a cutting edge 3 inches long or less
 * carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife
 * use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife)

Scotland
In Scotland, 16 to 18 year olds are allowed to buy cutlery and kitchen knives.

Lock knives
Lock knives are not classed as folding knives and are illegal to carry in public without good reason. Lock knives:

have blades that can be locked and refolded only by pressing a button can include multi-tool knives - tools that also contain other devices such as a screwdriver or can opener

Illegal Knifes
gov.uk lists the following as illegal


 * butterfly knives (also known as ‘balisongs’) - a blade hidden inside a handle that splits in the middle
 * disguised knives - a blade or sharp point hidden inside what looks like everyday objects such as a buckle, phone, brush or lipstick
 * flick knives (also known as ‘switchblades’ or ‘automatic knives’) - a blade hidden inside a handle which shoots out when a button is pressed
 * gravity knives
 * stealth knives - a knife or spike not made from metal (except when used at home, for food or a toy)
 * zombie knives - a knife with a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence
 * swords, including samurai swords - a curved blade over 50cm (with some exceptions, such as antiques and swords made to traditional methods before 1954)
 * sword-sticks - a hollow walking stick or cane containing a blade
 * push daggers
 * blowpipes (‘blow gun’)
 * telescopic truncheons - extend automatically by pressing button or spring in the handle
 * batons - straight, side-handled or friction-lock truncheons
 * hollow kubotans - a cylinder-shaped keychain holding spikes
 * shurikens (also known as ‘shaken’, ‘death stars’ or ‘throwing stars’)
 * kusari-gama - a sickle attached to a rope, cord or wire
 * kyoketsu-shoge - a hook-knife attached to a rope, cord or wire
 * kusari (or ‘manrikigusari’) - a weight attached to a rope, cord, wire
 * hand or foot-claws
 * knuckledusters

Carrying a knife in public

 * taking knives you use at work to and from work
 * taking it to a gallery or museum to be exhibited
 * if it’ll be used for theatre, film, television, historical reenactment or religious purposes, for example the kirpan some Sikhs carry
 * if it’ll be used in a demonstration or to teach someone how to use it

Swords
Swords are legal in UK with some exceptions. Swords that are as the The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)(Amendment) Order 2008 says with a curved blade of 50 centimetres or over in length; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, the length of the blade shall be the straight line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade are illegal. However people who had such a sword were allowed to keep it yet not pass it on to someone else or sell it. Some of these swords are illegal these are swords over hundred years old from time owned, a samurai sword before 1954, a samurai made by traditional methods, or allowed to by a authority.

Andrew Pennington
28 January 2000 Pennington was acting as an assistant to Nigel Jones, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, during Jones's constituency surgery. A constituent whom Jones had been helping with legal disputes attended the surgery suddenly attacked him with a samurai sword; Pennington came to Jones's defence but was fatally injured; he was stabbed nine times from behind – with at least six of the wounds going all the way through his body. Jones was badly injured in the hands. Pennington was posthumously awarded the George Medal for his attempts to protect Jones.

Buckingham Palace
25 August 2017 a car driver was arrested by police outside Buckingham Palace. The suspect reached for a sword while seated inside his car when officers challenged him. He was charged with intent to commit an act of terrorism. Two police received minor injuries making the arrest.