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Restriction of use of civil defence international distinctive sign and other distinctive signals.
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9.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person—
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(a) other than a person involved in civil defence, to use or display the sign of an equilateral blue triangle on, and completely surrounded by, an orange ground, being the international distinctive sign of civil defence,
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(b) other than a person involved in the protection of works and installations containing dangerous forces (within the meaning of Article 56 of Protocol I), to use or display the sign consisting of a group of three bright orange circles of equal size, placed on the same axis, the distance between each circle being one radius, being the international special sign for works and installations containing dangerous forces, as provided for in paragraph 7 of that Article, or
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(c) other than a person attached to a medical unit or transport, to use any of the distinctive signals specified in Articles 8 and 9 of Chapter III of Annex I to Protocol I, being the signals of identification for medical units and transports.
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(2) It shall not be lawful for any person to use for the purpose of trade or business or any other purpose whatsoever, without the consent of the Minister for Defence—
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(a) any design so nearly resembling the sign referred to in subsection (1)(a) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for that sign,
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(b) any design so nearly resembling the sign referred to in subsection (1)(b) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for that sign, or
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(c) any signal so nearly resembling any of the signals referred to in subsection (1)(c) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for one of those signals.
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(3) The restriction effected by subsection (1)(a) or (b) or (2)(a) or (b) of this section does not apply where a sign is used pursuant to a right acquired through the use of that sign prior to the commencement of this Act.
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(4) The Minister for Defence may make regulations to supervise the display of the international distinctive sign of civil defence or of the international special sign for works and installations containing dangerous forces.
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(5) A person who contravenes this section or regulations made under subsection (4) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.
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(6) On conviction for an offence under this section the Court may order the forfeiture of any sign used in the commission of the offence or anything on which the sign is displayed.
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(7) Where any sign is forfeited under this section such sign shall be disposed of in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Defence and any moneys arising from any such disposition shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.
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(8) Where an offence under this section is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in such capacity, that person shall, as well as the body corporate, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.
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(9) In a prosecution for an offence under this section it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that the Minister for Defence did not consent to the use for the purpose of trade or business or any other purpose whatsoever of the sign, design or signal in question.
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