Protected Places and Restricted Areas Ordinance 2026

1. Short title and commencement

This Ordinance may be cited as the Protected Places and Restricted Areas Ordinance 2026 and comes into force on the day appointed by notice in the Gazette.

2. Interpretation

In this Ordinance:

"authorised Defence Force officer" means an officer of the Coral Island Defence Force whom the President, as Commander of the Defence Force under Article 7 of the Constitution, has authorised in writing to restrict areas under section 6;

"authorised officer" means a police officer, a member of the Coral Island Defence Force on duty, an officer of the Border Security Directorate, or a person the Minister authorises in writing for a particular protected place;

"defence installation" means any building, site, vessel, aircraft or equipment of the Coral Island Defence Force or of Coral Control, including its air defence sites;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for border security and defence;

"a purpose prejudicial to the safety of Coral Island" includes a purpose of assisting an enemy, of planning or committing a terrorist act or an offence against the State under Part 7 of the Criminal Code Ordinance 2026, or of damaging or disrupting a defence installation;

"protected place" means a place declared under section 3;

"restricted area" means an area restricted under section 6;

"senior police officer" means a police officer of the rank of inspector or above;

"the standard scale" means the standard scale of fines in section 14 of the Criminal Code Ordinance 2026;

"unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft of any size, including a drone or model aircraft, flown without a pilot on board.

3. Protected places

(1) The Minister may by notice in the Gazette declare any building, land, water or installation to be a protected place, where that is necessary for the security of the Government, the Coral Island Defence Force, the border or the public.

(2) A notice may declare the whole or part of a place protected, and may except its public parts while they are open to the public.

(3) The first declaration is made by GN 20/2026.

(4) The boundary of every protected place is marked by signs where practicable. A person is not guilty of an offence under section 4 if they show that the boundary was not marked and they did not know, and had no reason to believe, that the place was protected.

4. Entry to a protected place

(1) A person must not enter or remain in a protected place without the permission of an authorised officer.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the public parts of a protected place while they are open to the public, including the public counter at Government House, Puerto Coral, and the border desk, where a person must report under section 10 of the Border Security and Airspace Ordinance 2026.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 6 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for 6 months, or to both.

5. Conditions of entry and search

(1) An authorised officer may give permission to enter a protected place, or its public parts, on conditions, including that the person and their belongings are searched on entry and on leaving, and that they are escorted.

(2) A person who refuses to be searched may be refused entry, or required to leave.

(3) A search under this section is carried out with respect for the person's dignity. A search beyond outer clothing and bags is made out of public view.

6. Restricted areas

(1) A senior police officer, or an authorised Defence Force officer, may restrict an area around an incident, an official visit or a threat to safety, for up to 24 hours, by marking it with a cordon or signs.

(2) The Minister may by notice in the Gazette restrict an area for up to 30 days, stating its boundaries and the reason.

(3) A person must not enter or remain in a restricted area without the permission of an authorised officer. People who live or work in the area are allowed to reach their homes and workplaces, on reasonable conditions.

(4) A person who contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for 3 months, or to both.

7. Unmanned aircraft

(1) A person must not fly an unmanned aircraft within 500 metres of a protected place, or over a restricted area, without the permission of an authorised officer.

(2) An authorised officer may require the person flying the aircraft to land it, and may seize it.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. The court may also order the forfeiture of the aircraft and of any recording made with it.

8. Recording defence installations

(1) A person must not, for a purpose prejudicial to the safety of Coral Island, photograph, film, sketch, survey or otherwise record a defence installation, or pass on any such record.

(2) Ordinary photography for any other purpose, including tourism, journalism and personal use, is not an offence under this section.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine, or to imprisonment for 7 years, or to both.

(4) Nothing in this section affects the offence of espionage under section 46 of the Criminal Code Ordinance 2026.

9. Powers of authorised officers

(1) An authorised officer may require a person who is in a protected place or restricted area without permission to leave it, and may remove a person who does not leave when required, using only reasonable force.

(2) An authorised officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect an offence under this Ordinance may search a person, vehicle or vessel in or leaving a protected place or restricted area, and may arrest the person suspected.

(3) An authorised officer who is not in uniform shows identification before exercising a power.

(4) An authorised officer who is not a police officer hands a person arrested to a police officer as soon as practicable.

10. Aggravated entry

(1) A person must not enter or remain in a protected place for a purpose prejudicial to the safety of Coral Island.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine, or to imprisonment for 7 years, or to both.

11. Relationship with other laws

The zones, the border status, clearance, and the rules for hailing, warning and engaging craft under the Border Security and Airspace Ordinance 2026 are unaffected by this Ordinance. Nothing in this Ordinance authorises the engagement of any craft.