Criminal Justice Act 2007

35

Amendment of section 15 of Act of 1925.

35.— Section 15 of the Act of 1925 is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):

“(4A) The purpose of subsections (5) and (6) of this section is to provide that in view of the harm caused to society by the unlawful possession and use of firearms, a court, in imposing sentence on a person (except a person under the age of 18 years) for an offence under this section, shall specify as the minimum term of imprisonment to be served by the person a term of not less than 10 years, unless the court determines that by reason of exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence, or the person convicted of it, it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so.”,

and

(b) in subsection (5), by the insertion of “, subject to subsection (6),” after “and for this purpose the court may”.