Home Office - Knives

Carrying Knives in Public

The CJA 1988 mainly relates to carrying knives in public places, Section 139 being the most important.

"It is an offence for any person, without lawful authority or good reason, to have with him in a public place, any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except for a folding pocket-knife which has a cutting edge to its blade not exceeding 3 inches." [CJA 1988 section 139(1)]

The phrase "good reason" 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. Examples of bona fide reasons which have been accepted include: a knife required for ones trade (e.g. a chefs knife), as part of a national costume (e.g. a sgian dubh), or for religious reasons (e.g. a Sikh Kirpan).

In this case, public place is meant as anywhere accessible to the public, so for example a private campsite, which members of the public must book to use, is a public place. Also, knives should only be carried to and from and used at the location where they are needed. For example, leaving a knife in a car for use when you go fishing would be illegal. It should be taken back into the house each time you use the car (other than to go fishing). [1]

The special exception which exists in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (s139) for folding knives (pocket knives) is another "common sense" measure accepting that some small knives are carried for general utility however even a folding pocket knife of less than 3" (76mm) may still be considered an offensive weapon if carried or used for that purpose. It was a long held common belief that a folding knife must be non-locking for this provision to apply.

A Crown Court case (Harris v DPP), ruled (case law). A lock knife for all legal purposes, is the same as a fixed blade knife. A folding pocket knife must be readily foldable at all times. If it has a mechanism that prevents folding, it's a lock knife (or for legal purposes, a fixed blade) The Court of Appeal (REGINA - v - DESMOND GARCIA DEEGAN 1998) upheld the Harris ruling stating that "folding was held to mean non-locking". No leave to appeal was granted.

Illegal Knives

In the UK, the main knife legislation is found in the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 1988 however certain types of knife are banned under the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act (ROWA) 1959, the relevant section of the latter being Section 1.

"It is an offence for a person to manufacture, sell, hire or offer for sale or hire or expose or have in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lend or give to any 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 know 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". "

[ROWA 1959 S 1(1)]

Section 1(2) also makes it illegal to import knives of this type, as a result it is (almost) impossible to obtain possession of such a knife without either committing or abetting an offence. Note that the above legislation does not refer to 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.

this law is aimed primarily at knives designed with features specific to fighting/assault rather than use as a tool.

Burden of Proof

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 bona fide reason for carrying a knife (if this is the case). Whilst 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.

Age Restriction

British law also covers age restriction on the sale of knives in the Criminal Justice Act 1998:

"It is an offence for any person to sell to a person under the age of 18 any knife, knife blade, razor blade, axe or any other article which has a blade or is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for causing injury to the person." [CJA 1988 section 141A]

British courts have in the past taken the marketing of a particular brand of knife into account when considering whether an otherwise legal folding knife was carried as an offensive weapon. A knife which is marketed as "tactical", "military", "special ops", etc could therefore carry an extra liability. The Knives Act 1997 now restricts the marketing of knives as offensive weapons and thus it is much more unlikely that such marketing could be used as evidence against a defendant.

In practice, this law makes it highly unlikely that most shops would sell a knife to someone younger than 18.

Illegal Goods

Samurai and other curved Swords - On April 6th 2008 a law came into effect banning samurai and other curved swords with a blade length of 50cm or more, there are some exceptions for registered martial artists, re-enactors and even certain genuine Japanese swords.

An amendment to this act was passed, which came into effect on the 1st of August 2008, which allows curved and samurai swords which are handmade using traditional forging/production methods to be sold without a license which you will see on the site and can buy and own without a license.

Some controversial legislation was passed in 1988 which made certain types of knives illegal to import or sell in the U.K, these include push daggers, butterfly knives, blowpipes, sword canes, gravity knives (similar to flick knives), knuckle dusters (inc. knives and other weapons with knuckle duster style handles), throwing stars (with 3 or more spikes) and some martial arts equipment, we will not source these items for you so please don't ask. For a more detailed breakdown you can view 'The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)' by clicking OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT.

Crown Copyright 1988

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The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. The authoritative version is the Queen's Printer copy published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988, ISBN 0110880196. Purchase this item. For details of how to obtain an official copy see How to obtain The Stationery Office Limited titles. To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1988 No. 2019
CRIMINAL LAW, ENGLAND AND WALES CRIMINAL LAW, NORTHERN IRELAND CRIMINAL LAW, SCOTLAND
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988
Made 17th November 1988

Coming into force 18th January 1989

In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by section 141(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988[1] , a draft of this instrument having been laid before Parliament and having been approved by each House of Parliament, I hereby make the following Order:

• 1. This Order may be cited as the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 and shall come into force two months after the day on which it is made.
• 2. The Schedule to this Order shall have effect.

Douglas Hurd
One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State
Home Office

17th November 1988

 

SCHEDULE
Article 2

1. Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (offensive weapons) shall apply to the following descriptions of weapons, other than weapons of those descriptions which are antiques for the purposes of this Schedule:

• (a) a knuckleduster, that is, a band of metal or other hard material worn on one or more fingers, and designed to cause injury, and any weapon incorporating a knuckleduster;
• (b) a swordstick, that is, a hollow walking-stick or cane containing a blade which may be used as a sword;
• (c) the weapon sometimes known as a "handclaw" , being a band of metal or other hard material from which a number of sharp spikes protrude, and worn around the hand;
• (d) the weapon sometimes known as a "belt buckle knife" , being a buckle which incorporates or conceals a knife;
• (e) the weapon sometimes known as a "push dagger" , being a knife the handle of which fits within a clenched fist and the blade of which protrudes from between two fingers;
• (f) the weapon sometimes known as a "hollow kubotan" , being a cylindrical container containing a number of sharp spikes;
• (g) the weapon sometimes known as a "footclaw" , being a bar of metal or other hard material from which a number of sharp spikes protrude, and worn strapped to the foot;
• (h) the weapon sometimes known as a "shuriken" , "shaken" or "death star" , being a hard non-flexible plate having three or more sharp radiating points and designed to be thrown;
• (i) the weapon sometimes known as a "balisong" or "butterfly knife" , being a blade enclosed by its handle, which is designed to split down the middle, without the operation of a spring or other mechanical means, to reveal the blade;
• (j) the weapon sometimes known as a "telescopic truncheon" , being a truncheon which extends automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to its handle;
• (k) the weapon sometimes known as a "blowpipe" or "blow gun" , being a hollow tube out of which hard pellets or darts are shot by the use of breath;
• (l) the weapon sometimes known as a "kusari gama" , being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at one end to a sickle;
• (m) the weapon sometimes known as a "kyoketsu shoge" , being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at one end to a hooked knife;
• (n) the weapon sometimes known as a "manrikigusari" or "kusari" , being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at each end to a hard weight or hand grip;

2. For the purposes of this Schedule, a weapon is an antique if it was manufactured more than 100 years before the date of any offence alleged to have been committed in respect of that weapon under subsection (1) of the said section 141 or section 50(2) or (3) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979[2] (improper importation).

Notes:

[2] 1979 c.

2002 Update

2. This Order extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland only.

3. The Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988[2], which specifies offensive weapons for the purposes of section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, shall be amended by the insertion into paragraph 1 of that Schedule after sub-paragraph (n) the words - " (o) a disguised knife, that is any knife which has a concealed blade or concealed sharp point and is designed to appear to be an everyday object of a kind commonly carried on the person or in a handbag, briefcase, or other hand luggage (such as a comb, brush, writing instrument, cigarette lighter, key, lipstick or telephone).".

John Denham
Minister of State
Home Office

22nd June 2002

If you should attempt to import prohibited goods you will probably be unsuccessful and leave yourself open to various avenues of police action, at the very least your consignment will be confiscated and you will recieve a letter like this (kindly supplied by one of our new customers) Notice Of Seizure.

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