Meteorites Act 1988
1Meteorites Act 1988
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NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA METEORITES ACT 1988 As in force at 1 July 2014 Table of provisions 1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1 2 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1 3 Property in and management of meteorites ..................................... 1 4 Preservation and scientific investigation .......................................... 2 5 Duties of persons finding meteorites ............................................... 2 6 Protection and recovery of meteorites ............................................. 2 7 Reimbursement of expenses ........................................................... 3 8 Sacred sites and heritage legislation not affected ........................... 3 ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 1 July 2014
METEORITES ACT 1988 An Act to make provision for the protection of meteorites and tektites 1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Meteorites Act 1988. 2 Definitions In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears: Board, see section 3 of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Act 2014. meteorite means a natural mass that has fallen to the earth from beyond the atmosphere and includes a tektite. 3 Property in and management of meteorites (1) Subject to subsection (2), and notwithstanding the degree of their attachment to land, all meteorites in the Territory are the property of the Territory and their management and control is vested in the Board. (2) A meteorite which had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay (whether or not as the result of erosion) and taken into possession by a person: (a) before the commencement of this Act; or (b) outside the Territory, is not by virtue of subsection (1) the property of the Territory nor is its management and control vested in the Board by virtue of that subsection.
Meteorites Act 1988 2 (3) The onus of proving that a meteorite had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay and taken into possession by a person: (a) before the commencement of this Act; or (b) outside the Territory, rests on the person asserting that fact. (4) Notwithstanding that a meteorite is the property of the Territory, neither the Territory nor the Board are liable for any damage or loss naturally resulting from the impact of a meteor or the presence of the meteorite. (5) To the extent that subsection (1) effects an acquisition of property by the Territory, the Territory shall pay just compensation to the person whose property in a meteorite is so acquired and such compensation is recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction. (6) For the avoidance of doubt, the property in a meteorite does not pass under or by virtue of a law of the Territory relating to mining. 4 Preservation and scientific investigation (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Board shall take such steps as it thinks fit to preserve a meteorite in situ or at such other place as it thinks fit. (2) The Board may allow or make arrangements for scientific or other investigation of a meteorite. 5 Duties of persons finding meteorites A person who finds a meteorite the property of the Territory shall, as soon as practicable after the finding, give notice of it to the Board. 6 Protection and recovery of meteorites Notwithstanding any other law of the Territory, no person shall: (a) except with the permission of the Board, wilfully damage or destroy a meteorite the property of the Territory or the Board; or