Continental Shelf Act (No. 1 of 1965)

CHAPTER 32 CONTINENTAL SHELF ACT A"ange11knl of Sections Stdion I. Short title. 2. Interpretation. 3. Vesting of rights in the Crown. 4. Protection of installations in designated areas. 5. Application of criminal and civil law. 6. Safety of navigation. 7. Discharge of oil. 8. Wireless telegraphy. 9. (I) Submarine cables and pipe-lines. (2) Repeal. l 0. ( l) Prosecution of offences, etc. (2) Offence by body corporate. (3) Powers of police. J J. Power to make regulations. CHAPTER 32 An Act to make provision as to the exploitation and explor­ ation of the Continental Shelf; to enable effect to be gh:en to certain prov.isioDS of the Convention on the High Seas done in Geneva on 29th April, 1958; and for matters connected with those purposes. fl8TH]UNE, 1965.) I. This Act may be cited as the Continental Shelf Ac, 11 of 1965. Short title, Interpre­ tation. Vesting of rights in the Crown. Protection of installa­ tions in designated areas. .-\pplication of cri..rnina1 2nd civil !av,. 2. In this Act unless the context otherwise requires " designated area " means an area designated under the provisions of section 3 (2) of this Act; " Nlini3ter" means the 1-Iinister for the time being responsible for the administration of this Aci. 3. (1) Any rights exercisable by The Gambia outside territorial waters with respect to the seabed and sub-soil and their natural resources are hereby vested in Her Majesty. (2) The Governor-General may from time to time by order designate any area as an area within which the rights mentioned in subsection ( l) of this section are exercisable. 4. (1) The Minister may for the .purpose of protecting any installation in a designated area by Order published in the Gazette prohibit ships, subject to any exception provided by the Order, from entering without his consent such part of that area as may be specified in the Order. (2) If any ship enters any part of a designated area in contraven­ tion of an Order under this section, its owner or master shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceed.ing one year, or to both, unless he proves that the prohibition imposed by the Order was not, and would not on reasonable inquiry have become, known to the master. (3) Any Order under this. section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order, and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Parliament of The Gambia. 5. ( 1) Any act or omission which ( a) takes place on, under or above an installation in a designated area or any waters within five hundred metres of such an installation; and · · ( h) would, if taking place in any part of The Gambia, constitute an offence under the law in force in that part, shall be treated for the purposes of that law as taking place in that part. (2) The Minister may by Order make provision for the determin­ ation, in accordance with the law in force in such part of The Gambia as may be specified in the Order, of questions arising out of acts or omissions taking place in a designated area, or in any part of such an area, in connection with the expioratiou of the seabed or subsoil or the exploitation of their natural resources, and for con­ ferring jurisdiction with respect to such questions on courts in any part of The Gambia so specified. (3) Any jurisdiction conferred on any court under this section shall be without prejudice to any jurisdiction exercisable apart from this section by that or any other court: (4) Any Order under th.is section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Parliament of The Gambia. 6. (I) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, no person shall without the consent in writing of the Minister carry out any of the following operations, that is to say (a) construct, alter or improve any works on, under or over any part of the seabed in a designated area; ( b) deposit any object or any materials from any part of the seabed as aforesaid ; or (c) remove any object or any materials from any part of the seabed as aforesaid, so that obstruction or danger to navigation is caused or is likely to result. , 2) The l\.finister may, as a condition of considering an application for tonsent under this section, require to be furnished with such plans and particulars of the proposed operation as he may consider necessary; and cm receipt of any such application he may cause notice of the application, and of the time within which and the manner in which objections thereto may be made, to be published in such manner as he may consider appropriate for informing persons affected thereby, and, before granting his consent, may, if he thinks fit, direct a local inquiry to be held. (3) If the Minister is of opinion that any operation in respect of which application is made to him under this section will cause or is Safety of naviga.tion. Discharge of oil. likely to result in obstruction or danger to navigation, he shall either refuse his consent or give his consent subject to such conditions as he may think fit, having regard to the nature and extent of the obstruc~ tion or danger which it appears to him would otherwise be caused or be likely to result. (4) A consent of the Minister under this subsection may be given so as to continue in force, unless renewed, only if the operation for which the consent is given is begun or completed within such period as may be specified in the consent; and any renewal of such a consent may be limited in the like manner. (5) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on sum1nary conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both. 7. ( 1) If any oil to which this section applies or any mixture containing not less than one hundred parts of such oil in a million parts of the mixture is discharged or escapes into any part of the sea ( a) from a vessel; (b) from a pipe-line; or (c) as the result of any operations for the exploration of the seabed and subsoil or the exploitation of their natural resources in a designated area, the owner or master of the vessel, the owner of the pipe-line or, as the case may be, the person carrying on the operations shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves, in the case of a discharge from a place in his occupation, that -it was due to the act of a person who was there without his permission (express or implied) or, in the case of an escape, that he took aU reasonable care to prevent it and that as soon as practicable after it was discovered all reasonable steps were taken for stopping or reducing it. (2) This section applil!s (a) to crude oil, fuel oil and lubricating oil, and ( b) to heavy diesel oil, as defined by regulations made by the Nlinister under this section, and shall also apply to any other description of oH which may be prescribed by the Minister. ·31 A person guilty ofan offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine. s. An Order under section 5 of this Act may make provision for treating for the purposes of the Telegraph Stations Act and any regulations made thereunder any installation in an area or part with respect to which provision is made under that section and any ~,-aters within five hundred metres of such an installation as if they were situated in such part of The Gambia as may be specified in the Order. Wirelcss telegraphy Cap. 178. 9. (1) Section 3 (punishment for damaging cables) of the Su~morinc Submarine Telegraph Act, 1885 and Article IV and paragraph l of ;ipc-lin-::;1 Article VII (liability to pay compensation for damage to cables and for loss of gear sacrificed to avoid such damage) of the Convention set out in the Schedule to that Act ( which by virtue of section 2 thereof has the force of law) shalJ apply in relation to all submarine cables under the high seas ( and not only to those to which that Convention applies) and to pipe-lines under the high seas; and the said section 3 shall be construed as referring to telephonic as well as telegraphic commtmication, and, in relation to high-voltage power cables and to pipe~lines, as if the words, from" in such manner" to the end of subsection (I) were omitted. (2) Sections 6 (3) (limitation of proceedings) and 13 (ccsser of Repeal. Act on cesser of Convention) of that Act are-hereby repealed. 10. (I) Proceedings for any offence under this Act (including an oflence under another Act as applied by or under this Act and anything that is an offence by virtue of section 3 (!) of this Act) may be taken, and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated o.s haYing been committed, in any place in The Gambia. :2:, Where a body corporate is guilty of such an offence and the offe-r:-,ce is proved to have been committed with the consent or cc,u:.,•;ar:ce of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a:·-iy director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corpu1ate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished · according/)'. Prosecution of offence<J7 etc. Offence by body corporate. Powers of police. .Power to mal<, regulations. In this subsection, " director" in relation to a body corporate established for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate. (3) A police officer shall on any installation in a designated area have all the powers, protection and privileges which he has in the area for which he acts as a police officer. 11. The Minister may make regulations for the better carrying out of the purposes of this Act and without prejudice to the generality of such power may in such regulations make provision for ( a) the control of radioactive substances and the disposal of radioactive waste-in a designated area; and ( b) the control of the exploitation and development of mineral. resources other than mineral oiL SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION (No subsidiary legislation)