# The Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Act 1998 (c. 7) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

to implement and enforce the

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations ...

of 1996. It is not yet in force. The Act explicitly declares that to knowingly cause a nuclear explosion, for a test or any other reason, will be an offence, and punishable by

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

and confiscation of anything relating to the offence. The only exception is where the explosion is deemed to have been carried out in the course of an

armed conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

– if a question arises over this then the

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

decides and issues a certificate of his determination. The Act will apply to any explosion caused within the United Kingdom, or caused elsewhere by British nationals or corporations. The Act will also allow for on-site inspection parties as mandated by the treaty, and criminalise any attempts to wilfully obstruct such inspections. It will also grant powers to enter and search premises if a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

is satisfied that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that an offence is being, has been or is about to be committed. The final section of the Act states that the Act does not come into effect until a minister signs an order declaring the date on which it is to become effective. This has not yet been done. However the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which is in force, includes offences relating to nuclear weapons.

External links

Full text of the Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Act 1998Part 6 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1998

See also

External links