Paintball Field

The Cyprus Police grants a certificate of approval for the establishment of a paintball field to natural persons or legal entities only in cases where the applicant:

1. Fulfils the requirements of the relevant Law and Regulations, which are:

• The applicant must be 18 years old and above;
• The applicant must not be considered harmful either to him/herself or towards the public order or to the public safety following a Court Judgement or an opinion of a Governmental Medical Council;
• The applicant must have not been convicted to any offences mentioned in paragraph (d) section 4 of the Article 5 of the Law113(I)/2004 which are:

(i) Homicide,

(ii)Rape,

(iii)Kidnapping (excluding the kidnapping mentioned in Article 149 of the Penal Code, Cap. 154),

(iv) arson,

(v) high treason,

(vi) robbery,

(vii) taking part of an illegal organization,

(viii) premeditated murder or attempted murder,

(ix)import, possession, production, storage or transportation of explosive substances (According to the Article 4 of the Explosive Substances Law, Cap. 54, excluding the possession of ammunition of Category D firearms),

(x) Attempt to destroy property by explosive substances,

(xi) Illegal importation, acquisition, possession and use of Category A,B or C firearms,

(xii) Illegal acquisition, possession and use of controlled drugs or psychotropic substances with the purpose to supply, according to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law,

(xiii) any other offence which is determined by the Council of Ministries and is published in the Cyprus Official Gazette to be an offence within the meaning of this article; and

• The applicant is not deemed to be insane within the meaning of article 70 of the Criminal Procedure Law, Cap. 155.

2. The applicant must possess a suitable paintball field. The field should be properly formed with signs either for practicing the paintball sport or for leisure or entertainment purposes. Approved paintball fields should be fenced parametrically at a height of at least 3 meters with a material which does not permit any projectile of the paintball guns to go outside of the field.

Alternatively, a band could be placed in the perimeter of the paintball field. The band should be at least 35m outside the perimeter and must not allow the entry to any person. This band must be clearly marked with a rope or ribbon at 1m height from the ground. At both sides of the band, warning signs must be placed at a distance no more than 75m from one to another.

Section 7 paragraph 8: The owner of a paintball field is obliged to set up in a prominent place at the perimeter of the field, where the sport will take place, the certificate of approval which was granted to him/her, according to the paragraph (a) section 1 of Regulation 6, the conditions for operating the paintball field and the relevant penalties, provided by the Law and the Regulations as well as the warning signs (dimensions of at least 60X40cm), with readable indication ´The entrance is prohibited to persons not wearing the face and neck protective mask´.

In case of a legal entity, the entity should indicate a natural person who is legally responsible for each field. The contact details of the person should be mentioned in the certificate of approval, (license) and fulfill the requirements of the paragraph 4 (d) of the Article 5 of the Law 113(I)/2004, as mentioned above.

The application for the Certificate Approval of paintball fields can be submitted either through the PSC Cyprus or you can contact directly the:

Cyprus Police, Guns Registry Office
Police Headquarters
1478 Nicosia
Tel.:+357 22808384
Fax:+357 22808755
E-mail: hq.gunsregistry@police.gov.cy
Website: http://www.police.gov.cy

1. The application should be accompanied by the following documents:

   • Original or Certified translation of Certificate of Criminal Record (note: certificate of criminal record for the person legally responsible, in case the applicant is a legal entity);
   • Certified Copy or Certified translation of Certificate of incorporation;
   • Copy of Cadastral Plan;
   • Certified Copy or presentation of the original documents to the competent authorities Identification Card/Passport (Proof of Nationality and age of the applicant and the employees);
   • Copy of Work permit in case the applicant is national of a non EU member state;
   • Copy of rental agreement in cases where the property is being rented;
   • Copy of Title Deed in cases of private property.

   An on-site inspection is carried out in order to inspect the suitability of the field by the responsible committee. The committee is composed of 3 persons.

    

Upon approval, the applicant needs to pay the following fees to the Cyprus Police, Guns Registry Office (by cash):

• €205,00 for obtaining the certificate;
• €85,43 for renewing the application.

Administrative Action against a Competent Authority’s Decision

Any person may file an Administrative Action at the Administrative Court against a decision, act, or omission of any competent authority or body.

Pursuant to Article 146 of the Constitution, an Administrative Action may be lodged within 75 days from the date of the decision or act or omission or from the day when such decision or act or omission was notified to the applicant.

The Administrative Court acts as a cassation Court and not as a substantive Court. In other words, the Administrative Court may:
I. Dismiss the Administrative Action
II. Annul wholly or partially the contested decision or act
III. Compel the relevant authority or body to take a certain action

After a decision is annulled, the authority and/or public body must reverse things back to the state prior to when the concerned decision and/or act was executed and reexamine.

Appeal Information

An Appeal may be filed against the Administrative Court’s first-instance decision within a period of 42 days from the date such a decision was given.

At the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal Section) hearing, the contested issue of the appeal remains the legality of the decision or act already adjudicated. However, such a revision of the legality of the decision or act is solely examined on the matters and the extent that the two parties have limited the reasons in the relevant notice of appeal.

The decision adopted by the Supreme Court is considered final in relation to the matter that has been judged.

• ‘Ο Περί Πυροβόλων Όπλων και μη Πυροβόλων Όπλων Νόμος του 2004 (113(Ι) 2004)’

Every licensee of a paintball field has the following obligations:

• Α natural person who lawfully possesses paintball guns can supply them to other individuals on a temporary basis given that they were taken legally by other natural persons for exercise, leisure or entertainment purposes in his/her paintball field;
• Paintball guns are provided only to natural persons who:
  • 1. Are 16 years old and above; or
  • 2.14 years old and above provided they are accompanied by their parents or a guardian or by an adult relative who has at least a 3rd degree of kinship.
• All individuals who enter the paintball field while activity is carried out should wear special protective masks for their face and eyes as well as neck protective cover;
• The licensed owner of paintball guns is obliged to use paintball guns, with gas tanks which comply with the standard CYS EN 12245:2002. He/she must visually check the gas tanks of the gun every year and also scientifically check them against the standards for tanks CYS EN 1968:2002 for steel plated gas receiver and CYS EN 1802:2002 for aluminium containers and keep a Register for these checks;
• The licensed owner of paintball guns is obliged to check the muzzle velocity of the guns, which must not exceed 300 feet per second, during the use of the guns and in every case must check with the timer every gun before it is delivered to another person for use;
• The licensed owner of the paintball field is obliged to keep his/her arms in a Depot/Weapon Storage Cabinet, according to section 2 of the Regulation 5 and keep a Register of the name, age and the identity card number or passport number of the person to whom the gun is supplied. Also the date and time the gun was given and returned, should be noted;
• The owner of a paintball field is obliged to keep a safe place for informing the people that will be using the guns as well as a place for resting and for public use where it will be prohibited to carry a loaded paintball gun;
• The owner of a paintball field is obliged to place in a prominent position warning signs of dimensions of at least 60X40cm, with readable indication ´The entrance is prohibited to persons not wearing the face mask and neck protective mask´;
• The owner of a paintball field is obliged to solicitude the inspection of the field by authorized individuals who are 18 years old and above and possess a First Aid Certificate;
• Games must not take place between sunset and sunrise, unless the place is sufficiently lit.