Ships and Aircraft (Transfer Restriction) Act 1939
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Ships and Aircraft (Transfer Restriction) Act, 1939
(2 & 3 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 70.
An Act to impose restrictions on certain transactions in respect of ships and aircraft and parts of aircraft; and for purposes connected with the matter aforesaid.
[1st September 1939]
Be it enacted by the King'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:—
1 Restriction on transfer and mortgage of ships.
(1) It shall be unlawful, except under the sanction of the Board of Trade,—
(a ) to transfer any ship to which this Act applies or any share in such a ship, or
(b ) to mortgage any such ship or any share therein, or to transfer a mortgage of any such ship or share;
and if any person purports to effect any transfer or mortgage which is unlawful by virtue of this subsection, then, in addition to the transfer or mortgage being void, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Any ship or share in a ship which has been the subject of any transaction unlawful by virtue of this section shall be subject to forfeiture; and accordingly section seventy-six of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 , as amended by any subsequent enactment (which section prescribes the procedure for the forfeiture of ships) shall apply in relation to ships which have become subject to forfeiture under this section, as it applies in relation to ships which have become subject to forfeiture under Part I of that Act.
2 Restriction on transfer of registry of ships.
2. Notwithstanding anything in section fifty-three of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, an application made (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) for the transfer of the registry of a ship to which this Act applies from any port at which the ship is registered for the time being, shall not be granted except with the approval of the Board of Trade.
3 Restriction on transactions in respect of aircraft and parts of aircraft.
(1) It shall be unlawful, except under the sanction of the Secretary of State, to sell, transfer or let on hire (whether under charter or otherwise), or to do anything involving the creation of a charge on,—
(a ) any aircraft to which this Act applies, or
(b ) any airframe, aero-engine or airscrew which is within any country or territory to which this Act extends;
and if any person purports to effect any transaction which is unlawful by virtue of this section, then, in addition to the transaction being void, he shall be guilty of an offence:
Provided that the provisions of this section restricting transactions in respect of airframes, aero-engines and airscrews shall not avoid, or render a person punishable in respect of, any transaction relating to an aircraft to which this Act does not apply, by reason only that any airframe forming part of the aircraft, or any aero-engine or airscrew installed therein, is within a country or territory to which this Act extends.
(2) This section shall come into operation on such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.
4 Ships and aircraft to which this Act applies.
(1) The ships to which this Act applies are—
(a ) all British ships, except ships registered—
(i) in a Dominion, or
(ii) in any territory administered by His Majesty's Government in a Dominion, or
(iii) in India or Burma; and
(b ) all other ships being ships—
(i) which are registered in, or licensed under the law of, any colony or British protectorate or any territory in respect of which a mandate on behalf of the League of Nations has been accepted by His Majesty and is being exercised by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, or
(2) The aircraft to which this Act applies are—
(a ) all aircraft registered—
(i) in the United Kingdom,
(ii) in any of the Channel Islands or in the Isle of Man,
(iii) in Newfoundland or in any colony,
(iv) in any British protectorate, or
(v) in any territory in respect of which a mandate on behalf of the League of Nations has been accepted by His Majesty and is being exercised by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom; and
(b) all other aircraft being aircraft which are within any of the countries and territories referred to in paragraph (a ) of this subsection, and have at any time (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) been registered in any of the said countries and territories, and are not for the time being either registered—
(i) in a Dominion, or
(ii) in any territory administered by His Majesty's Government in a Dominion, or
(iii) in India, Burma or Southern Rhodesia,
or registered...
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