wearing of Irish DPM lawfully produced by external manufacturers

Twoprongedfork

Hello, recently I've been seeing more people wearing variations of DPM, specifically from Arktis UK. Is this legal? As it hasn't been issued to the Defence Forces, and was not made for the Defence Forces. Because from my understanding, only issued and government owned DPM is illegal.

tjhook

To the best of my knowledge...

The design of the Irish DPM is owned by the state so other companies can't legally copy it.

BDU issued to the defence forces remains the property of the state, and so can't be legally sold on by the person to whom it is issued.

That website does have a section for "Irish DPM", but whether it's genuine (i.e. manufactured under license, or sold on by a person to whom it was issued), or a slightly different pattern that just looks similar to Irish DPM, I can't tell.

It's probably not an offence to wear Irish DPM in the UK, but in Ireland if it wasn't issued to the wearer it may be considered "receipt of stolen goods", as it's property of the state.

Anyway, somebody with better information may correct me.

Twoprongedfork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119037516#Comment_119037516

I have contacted them before and it is produced under license. They did not mention however if it is legal to be worn here. Anyway, I'll quote another guy I asked "It used to be the case, but Irish DPM is commercially available these days so it's perfectly legal to buy your own. Separately, the law only actually refers to serving members using/selling their kit and doesn't reference civilians, so even before it was commercially available, the legality wasn't clear cut. "

And he himself lives in Ireland, owns a DPM kit from Arktis, and apparently plays at an airsoft field with it. But I honestly don't know.

tjhook

Yeah, I'm not positive, but a quick search uncovered the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1987

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1987/act/8/section/14/enacted/en/html#sec14

 14.—Section 264 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) If any person (not being a member of the Defence Forces) wears, without permission granted by or on behalf of the Minister, any uniform of the Defence Forces, or any colourable imitation thereof, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”,

Maybe some later law undid that, but I wouldn't be risking it myself.

Twoprongedfork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119037673#Comment_119037673

Yeah, I won't be buying any until I know for sure its legal. Then again its an old law but you're right, I won't risk it.