Protection of Military Remains Act 1986

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to secure the protection from unauthorised interference of the remains of military aircraft and vessels that have crashed, sunk or been stranded and of associated human remains; and for connected purposes.
Citation1986 c.35
Introduced byMichael Mates
Territorial extent England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Dates
Royal assent8 July 1986
Commencement9 September 1986
Other legislation
Amended bySentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act 2020
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
The Act, as originally enacted.

The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (1986 c. 35) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels.[1] The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and controlled sites. Military aircraft are automatically protected, but vessels have to be specifically designated.[2] The primary reason for designation is to protect as a 'war grave' the last resting place of British servicemen (or other nationals); however, the Act does not require the loss of the vessel to have occurred during war.[3]

There have been seven statutory instruments designating wrecks under the Act, in 2002[4] (amended 2003),[5] 2006,[6] 2008,[7] 2009,[8] 2012,[9] 2017,[10] and 2019.[11] Thirteen wrecks are designated as controlled sites, on which diving is banned. These vessels (including one German submarine), all lost on military service, provide a small representative sample of all such vessels.[12] All other vessels that meet the criteria of the act are subject to a rolling programme of assessment and those that meet the criteria will be designated as protected places.[13] The order that is currently in force, since September 2019, designates 93 wrecks as protected places. This means that diving is allowed, but divers must follow the rule of look, don't touch.[12]

  1. ^ Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (UK), legislation.gov.uk
  2. ^ "Protected Wrecks in the UK". Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Marine Archaeology Legislation Project page 23" (PDF). English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  4. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2002". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  5. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2003". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  6. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2006". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  7. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2008". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  8. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2009". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  9. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2012". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  10. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2017". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  11. ^ "The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2019". Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Warship wrecks gain greater protection". Navy News. Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Lords Hansard text for 14 November 2005 (51114w04)". Hansard. Parliament Publication and Records. Retrieved 7 August 2008.