Cluster Munitions And Anti-Personnel Mines Act 2008
|
Interpretation. |
2.— (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— | |
“ abandoned cluster munitions ” means cluster munitions or explosive submunitions, whether or not they have been prepared for use, that have not been used and that have been left behind or dumped, and that are no longer under the control of the party that left them behind or dumped them; | ||
“ anti-handling device ” means a device intended to protect a mine and which is part of, linked to, attached to or placed under the mine and which activates when an attempt is made to tamper with or otherwise intentionally disturb the mine; | ||
“anti-personnel mine” means a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that is capable of incapacitating, injuring or killing one or more persons; | ||
“Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention” means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, done at Oslo on 18 September 1997, the text of which in the English language is set out for ease of reference in Schedule 2 ; | ||
“Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention state” means a state (other than the State) that is declared by order under section 8 to be a State Party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention; | ||
“ cluster munition ” means a conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions, but does not include the following: | ||
(a) a munition or submunition designed to dispense flares, smoke, pyrotechnics or chaff, or a munition designed exclusively for an air defence role; | ||
(b) a munition or submunition designed to produce electrical or electronic effects; | ||
(c) a munition that, in order to avoid indiscriminate area effects and the risks posed by unexploded submunitions, has all of the following characteristics: | ||
(i) each munition contains fewer than 10 explosive submunitions; | ||
(ii) each explosive submunition weighs more than 4 kilograms; | ||
(iii) each explosive submunition is designed to detect and engage a single target object; | ||
(iv) each explosive submunition is equipped with an electronic self-destruction mechanism; | ||
(v) each explosive submunition is equipped with an electronic self-deactivating feature; | ||
“ Cluster Munitions Convention ” means the Convention on Cluster Munitions, done at Dublin on 30 May 2008, the text of which in the English language is set out for ease of reference in Schedule 1 ; | ||
“ Cluster Munitions Convention state” means a state (other than the State) that is declared by order under section 5 to be a State Party to the Cluster Munitions Convention; | ||
“cluster munition remnants” means failed cluster munitions, abandoned cluster munitions, unexploded submunitions and unexploded bomblets; | ||
“ dispenser ” means a container that is designed to disperse or release explosive bomblets and which is affixed to an aircraft at the time of dispersal or release; | ||
“explosive bomblet” means a conventional munition, weighing less than 20 kilograms, which is not self-propelled and which, in order to perform its task, is dispersed or released by a dispenser, and is designed to function by detonating an explosive charge prior to, on or after impact; | ||
“explosive submunition” means a conventional munition that in order to perform its task is dispersed or released by a parent munition and is designed to function by detonating an explosive charge prior to, on or after impact; | ||
“failed cluster munition” means a cluster munition that has been fired, dropped, launched, projected or otherwise delivered and which should have dispersed or released its explosive submunitions but failed to do so; | ||
“international organisation” has the same meaning as it has in section 1 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ; | ||
“International United Nations Force” has the same meaning as it has in section 1 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ; | ||
“Irish ship” has the same meaning as it has in section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955 ; | ||
“mine” means a munition designed to be placed under, on or near the ground or other surface area and to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person or a vehicle; | ||
“Minister” means the Minister for Foreign Affairs; | ||
“ self-deactivating ” means automatically rendering a munition inoperable by means of the irreversible exhaustion of a component, such as a battery, that is essential to the operation of the munition; | ||
“self-destruction mechanism” means an incorporated automatically-functioning mechanism which is in addition to the primary initiating mechanism of the munition and which secures the destruction of the munition into which it is incorporated; | ||
“ transfer ”, in relation to cluster munitions, explosive bomblets or anti-personnel mines includes, in addition to the physical movement of cluster munitions, explosive bomblets or anti-personnel mines, the transfer of title to and control over cluster munitions, explosive bomblets or anti-personnel mines, but does not include the transfer of territory containing cluster munition remnants or emplaced anti-personnel mines; | ||
“ unexploded bomblet ” means an explosive bomblet that has been dispersed, released or otherwise separated from a dispenser and has failed to explode as intended; | ||
“ unexploded submunition ” means an explosive submunition that has been dispersed or released by, or otherwise separated from, a cluster munition and has failed to explode as intended. | ||
(2) For the purposes of the definition of “anti-personnel mine” in subsection (1), mines designed to be detonated by the presence, proximity or contact of a vehicle as opposed to a person and that are equipped with an anti-handling device shall not be considered to be anti-personnel mines by reason only of being so equipped. |