The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) (England and Wales) Order 2025

• Citation: S.I. 2025/681
• Sections: 7

Section 1 Citation, commencement and extent

(1) This Order may be cited as the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) (England and Wales) Order 2025.

(2) This Order comes into force as follows—

(a) this Part and Part 3 come into force on the day after the day on which this Order is made;

(b) Part 2 comes into force on 1st August 2025;

(c) Part 4 comes into force on 1st July 2025.

(3) This Order extends to England and Wales.

Section 2 Application of section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to ninja swords

(1) The Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 1, after sub-paragraph (t) insert—

(u) the weapon sometimes known as a “ninja sword”, being a sword with—

(i) a blade whose length is at least 14 inches, but no more than 24 inches (the length of the blade being the straight-line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade),

(ii) a primary straight cutting edge,

(iii) a secondary straight cutting edge,

(iv) a blunt spine, and

(v) either a tanto style point or a reversed tanto style point.

(3) After paragraph 1A, insert—

(1B)

(1) For the purposes of paragraph 1(u)(iv), a spine is blunt if it is not adapted to cutting.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph 1(u)(v)—

(a) a sword has a tanto style point if—

(i) the angle between its primary straight cutting edge and its secondary straight cutting edge is greater than 90 degrees, and

(ii) the angle between its secondary straight cutting edge and its spine is less than 90 degrees;

(b) a sword has a reversed tanto style point if—

(i) the angle between its primary straight cutting edge and its secondary straight cutting edge is less than 90 degrees, and

(ii) the angle between its secondary straight cutting edge and its spine is greater than 90 degrees.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph 1(u)(ii) and (iii) and this paragraph—

(a) a primary straight cutting edge is the longest cutting edge of a blade which immediately connects to the handle;

(b) a secondary straight cutting edge is a cutting edge—

(i) which forms an angle with the primary straight cutting edge and the spine, and

(ii) is no more than 5% longer or shorter than the width of the blade immediately after the handle.

(4) In paragraph 4, after “paragraph 1(r)” in both places where it occurs insert “or (u)” .

(5) In paragraph 5C, after “paragraph 1(sa)” insert “or (u)” .

(6) In paragraph 5D, after “paragraph 1(sa)” insert “or (u)” .

(7) In paragraph 5E, for “paragraph 1(r) or (sa)” substitute “paragraph 1(r), (sa) or (u)” .

(8) In paragraph 6, for “5A and 5B” substitute “and 5A to 5E” .

Section 3 Arrangements for surrender of weapons

(1) The Secretary of State must make such arrangements as the Secretary of State thinks fit to secure the orderly surrender at designated police stations in England and Wales of weapons the possession in private of which will become unlawful by virtue of Part 2 .

(2) The chief officer of police for any area may designate any police station in the chief officer’s area as being suitable for the receipt of weapons surrendered in accordance with the arrangements made under paragraph (1).

(3) The Secretary of State may also make such arrangements as the Secretary of State thinks fit to secure the orderly surrender at other designated locations in England and Wales of weapons the possession in private of which will become unlawful by virtue of Part 2 .

(4) The Secretary of State may designate any location in England and Wales as being suitable for the receipt of weapons surrendered in accordance with the arrangements made under paragraph (3).

(5) In this Part, “ chief officer of police ” has the meaning given in section 101(1) of the Police Act 1996 .

Section 4 Eligibility for compensation

Compensation may be claimed by a person—

(a) in respect of a weapon, possession in private of which will become unlawful by virtue of Part 2 ,

(b) who—

(i) owned the weapon on 27th March 2025, or

(ii) on or before 27th March 2025 had contracted to acquire the weapon,

(c) who has surrendered the weapon at a designated police station in accordance with arrangements made under article 3(1) within the period beginning with 1st July 2025 and ending with 31st July 2025, and

(d) who has made a written declaration that the person is the legal owner of the weapon and that it was lawfully acquired.

Section 5 Receipt of weapon surrendered

(1) If an officer is satisfied that the criteria in article 4 have been met, the officer must, upon receipt of the weapon, issue a receipt containing a unique reference number to the person who surrendered the weapon.

(2) The officer must ensure that a copy of the receipt is retained with the weapon surrendered.

(3) In this Part, “ officer ” means any person authorised to accept surrender of weapons in accordance with arrangements made under article 3(1).

Section 6 Claims for compensation

(1) The claim form to be used for the purposes of this article is set out in the Schedule.

(2) A person who has surrendered a weapon in accordance with the arrangements made under article 3(1) may make a claim to the Secretary of State on the claim form mentioned in paragraph (1).

(3) The claim form, to be forwarded to the Secretary of State by the officer who accepted the surrender of the weapon, must be submitted at the same time as the weapon is surrendered.

(4) The claim form must contain—

(a) the claimant’s full name, date of birth and address,

(b) the date on which the weapon was acquired or contracted to be acquired,

(c) details of the bank account into which any compensation is to be paid,

(d) the unique reference number contained on the receipt issued under article 5 , and

(e) the amount of compensation sought.

(5) If the amount of compensation sought is higher than £5, the claimant must provide sufficient evidence of valuation of the weapon to enable the Secretary of State to determine the claim.

(6) Evidence of valuation of a weapon may include—

(a) a valuation from an auction house,

(b) evidence of the price paid for the purchase of the weapon and the date of purchase, or

(c) published evidence of the value of the weapon.

(7) If not satisfied that the evidence of valuation supplied under paragraph (5) is sufficient to enable a determination of the claim to be made, the Secretary of State may request additional evidence to be supplied.

Section 7 Determination and payment of claims

(1) The Secretary of State must determine a claim made under article 6 as soon as reasonably practicable.

(2) The amount of compensation payable for a weapon, if any, is £5, unless the claimant has indicated that a higher amount of compensation is sought.

(3) Where the claimant has sought a higher amount of compensation than £5, the amount payable, if any, is to be determined by the Secretary of State taking account of the evidence of valuation of the weapon supplied.

(4) If satisfied that a higher amount of compensation is payable under this Part, the Secretary of State must—

(a) notify the claimant in writing of the amount of compensation that the Secretary of State considers is payable and give reasons for the decision, and

(b) make payment of the amount determined into the bank account nominated for this purpose on the claim form submitted by the claimant.

(5) If the Secretary of State considers that compensation is payable under this Part, but not satisfied that a higher amount of compensation is payable, the Secretary of State must—

(a) notify the claimant in writing that £5 is payable and give reasons for the decision,

(b) make payment of £5 into the bank account nominated for this purpose on the claim form submitted by the claimant.

(6) If the Secretary of State considers that no compensation is payable, the Secretary of State must notify the claimant in writing that no compensation is to be paid and give reasons for the decision.