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This version of this statute is extracted from the UK Statute Law Database (SLD). It is not necessarily in the form in which it was originally enacted but is a revised version, which means that any subsequent amendments to the text and other effects are incorporated with annotations.
An Act to prohibit the tattooing of persons under the age of eighteen years.
[16th May 1969
It shall be an offence to tattoo a person under the age of eighteen except when the tattoo is performed for medical reasons by a duly qualified medical practioner or by a person working under his direction, but it shall be a defence for a person charged to show that at the time the tattoo was performed he had reasonable cause to believe that the person tattooed was of or over the age of eighteen and did in fact so believe.
Any person committing such an offence shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F1fifty pounds][F1level 3 on the standard scale], or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding one [F1hundred pounds][F1level 3 on the standard scale].
F1Words “level 3 on the standard scale”substituted (S.) for “fifty pounds” and “hundred pounds”by virtue of Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), ss. 289E–289G
C1Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), ss. 35 (in relation to liability on first and subsequent convictions), 38 (increase of fines) and 46 (substitution of references to levels on the standard scale) apply (E.W.)
For the purposes of this Act “Tattoo” shall mean the insertion into the skin of any colouring material designed to leave a permanent mark.
(1)This Act may be cited as the Tattooing of Minors Act 1969.
(2)This Act shall come into force at the expiration of one month beginning with the date it is passed.
(3)This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.
Tattooing Of Minors Act 1969