Post Office (Protection) Act 1884
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1884 c. 76 |
| Year | 1884 |
Post Office (Protection) Act, 1884
(47 & 48 Vict.) CHAPTER 76.
An Act to amend the Law with respect to the Protection of the Post Office and to Offences committed in relation to the Post Office.
[14th August 1884]
B E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary
1 Short titles.
1. This Act may be cited as thePost Office (Protection) Act, 1884.
This Act and the Post Office (Offences) Act, 1837, may be cited together as the Post Office (Offences) Acts, 1837 and 1884, and this Act and the Post Office (Management) Acts, 1837 to 1881, may be cited together as the Post Office (Management) Acts, 1837 to 1884.
This Act shall be deemed to be a Post Office Act within the meaning of the Post Office (Offences) Act, 1837.
2 Commencement of Act.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of September one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four (which day is in this Act referred to as the commencement of this Act).
Protection of Post Offices, Postal Packets, and Stamps.
3 Prohibition of placing injurious substances in or against post office letter boxes.
3. A person shall not place or attempt to place in or against any post office letter box any fire, any match, any light, any explosive substance, any dangerous substance, any filth, any noxious or deleterious substance, or any fluid, and shall not commit a nuisance in or against any post office letter box, and shall not do or attempt to do anything likely to injure the box, appurtenances, or contents.
Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, and on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding twelve months.
4 Prohibition of sending by post explosive, inflammable, or deleterious substances, or indecent prints, words, &c. See 3 & 4 Vict. c. 96. s. 62.
(1)4.—(1.) A person shall not send or attempt to send a postal packet which either—
(a. ) Encloses any explosive substance, any dangerous substance, any filth, any noxious or deleterious substance, any sharp instrument not properly protected, any living creature which is either noxious or likely to injure other postal packets in course of conveyance or an officer of the post office, or any article, or thing whatsoever which is likely to injure either other postal packets in course of conveyance or an officer of the Post Office; or
(b. ) Encloses any indecent or obscene print, painting, photograph, lithograph, engraving, book, or card, or any indecent or obscene article, whether similar to the above or not; or
(c. ) Has on such packet, or on the cover thereof, any words, marks, or designs of an indecent, obscene, or grossly offensive character.
(2) (2.) Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, and on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a period not exceeding twelve months.
(3) (3.) The detention in the post office of any postal packet on the ground of its being in contravention of this section, shall not exempt the sender thereof from any proceedings which might have been taken if the same had been delivered in due course of post.
5 Prohibition of affixing placards, notices, &c. on post office or letter box, &c.
(1)5.—(1.) A person shall not, without due authority, affix or attempt to affix any placard, advertisement, notice, list, document, board, or thing on, or paint or tar any post office, post office letter box, telegraph post, or other property belonging to or used by or on behalf of the Postmaster General, and shall not in any way disfigure any such office, box, post, or property; and, notwithstanding anything in section nine of the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878 , a notice or list referred to in that section shall not be affixed in or on any post office or any such property without authority from the Postmaster General; and where the Postmaster General is of opinion that any such notice or list cannot be so affixed without obstruction or inconvenience to the business of the post office, he may refuse such authority.
(2) (2.) A person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
6 Prohibition of imitation of post office stamps, envelopes, forms, and marks.
(1)6.—(1.) A person shall not, without due authority,—
(a. ) make, issue, or send by post or otherwise any envelope, wrapper, card, form, or paper in imitation of one issued by or under the authority of the Postmaster General, or of any foreign or colonial postal authority, or having thereon any words, letters, or marks which signify or imply or may reasonably lead the recipient to believe that a post letter bearing the same is sent on Her Majesty's service; or
(b. ) make on any envelope, wrapper, card, form, or paper for the purpose of being issued or sent by post or otherwise, or otherwise used, any mark in imitation of or similar to or purporting to be any stamp or mark of any post office under the Postmaster General, or under any foreign or colonial postal authority, or any words, letters, or marks which signify or imply or may reasonably lead the recipient thereof to believe that a post letter bearing the same is sent on Her Majesty's service; or
(c. ) issue or send by post or otherwise any envelope, wrapper, card, form, or paper so marked.
(2) (2.) A person who acts in contravention of this section, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
7 Prohibition of fictitious stamps.
7. A person shall not—
Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable on summary conviction on a prosecution by order of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, subject to the like right of appeal as in the case of a penalty under the Acts relating to the excise.
Any stamp, die, plate, instrument, or materials found in the possession of any person in contravention of this section, may be seized and shall be forfeited.
For the purposes of this section ‘fictitious stamp’ means any facsimile or imitation or representation, whether on paper or otherwise, of any stamp for denoting any rate of postage, including any stamp for denoting a rate of postage of any of Her Majesty's colonies, or of any foreign country.
8 Prohibition of false notice as to reception of letters.
(1)8.—(1.) A person shall not, without authority from the Postmaster General, place or maintain in or on any house, wall, door, window, box, post, pillar, or other place belonging to him or under his control any of the words, letters, or marks following; (that is to say,)
(a. ) the words ‘post office,’ or ‘postal telegraph office;’ or
(b. ) the words ‘letter box,’ accompanied with words, letters, or marks which signify or imply or may reasonably lead the public to believe that it is a post office letter box; or
(c. ) any words, letters, or marks which signify or imply or may reasonably lead the public to believe that any house or place is a post office, or that any box is a post office letter box,
and a person, when required by a notice given by the Postmaster General to remove or efface any such words, letters, or marks as aforesaid, or to remove or effectually close up any letter box belonging to him or under his control which has been a post office letter box, shall comply with such request.
(2) (2.) Any person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding forty shillings, and if the offence is continued after a previous conviction, to a fine not exceeding five shillings for every day during which the offence so continues.
Officers of Post Office.
9 Commission of offences in post office, and obstruction of officers of post office.
(1)9.—(1.) Any person who wilfully obstructs, or incites anyone to obstruct, an officer of the post office in the execution of his duty, or who whilst in any post office, or within any premises belonging to any post office, or used therewith, obstructs the course of business of the post office, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
(2) (2.) Any officer of the post office may require any person guilty of an offence tinder this section to leave a post office or any such premises as aforesaid, and if such person refuses or fails to comply with such request, such...
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