Price and Charge
Indicators (Jersey) Law 2008
A LAW to enable the imposition of a
requirement for prices to be indicated on or in relation to goods that are or
may be for sale by retail, for charges to be indicated for services which may
be provided, and for connected purposes.
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation[1]
In this Law –
“inspector” has the same meaning as in the Weights and Measures (Jersey)
Law 1967;
“Minister” means the Minister
for Sustainable Economic Development;
“Regulations” means Regulations made under Article 2.
2 Power to make Regulations requiring price and charge indicators
(1) The States may by
Regulations require –
(a) that
prices are indicated on or in relation to goods which a person indicates are or
may be for sale by retail, whether or not the goods are in existence when the
person does so;
(b) that
charges are indicated for services which a person indicates are or may be
provided, except services which the person indicates are or may be provided
only for the purposes of business carried on by other persons;
(c) that
prices of such goods or charges for such services are not indicated in a manner
which is inappropriate and that no part of a penny is specified in the amount
of an indicated price or charge.
(2) Without prejudice to
the generality of paragraph (1), Regulations made under this
Article –
(a) may
make provision as to the manner in which any price or charge is to be
indicated;
(b) may
require that the price or charge to be indicated on or in relation to any goods
or services shall be, or shall include, a price or charge expressed by
reference to such unit or units of measurement as may be specified in the
Regulations;
(c) may
provide that a failure to comply with any requirement of the Regulations is an
offence liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) Where a requirement
imposed by Regulations made under this Article relates to goods or services on
the supply of which goods and services tax is charged, the requirement shall
be, subject to paragraph (4), that the price or charge indicated is
inclusive of the tax.
(4) Regulations made under
this Article may make exceptions to the requirement in paragraph (3) and,
where an exception is made, may –
(a) require
that the goods and services tax to be charged on the supply of the goods or
services is indicated on or in relation to them or for them; and
(b) make
provision as to the manner in which the tax is to be indicated.
(5) Where Regulations made
under this Article provide for a failure to comply with a requirement of the
Regulations to be an offence, they shall also provide that –
(a) where
the commission by a person of the offence is due to the act or default of some
other person that other person shall be guilty of the offence and may be
proceeded against and convicted of the offence pursuant to this sub-paragraph
whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person;
(b) in
any proceedings for the offence under the Regulations it shall, subject to
sub-paragraph (c), be a defence for the person charged to
prove –
(i) that the
commission of the offence was due to a mistake or to reliance on information
supplied to him or her or to the act or default of another person, an accident or some other cause beyond his or her control, and
(ii) that he or she
took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the
commission of such an offence by him or her or by any person under his or her
control;
(c) where,
in any case, the defence provided by virtue of sub-paragraph (b) involves
the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default
of another person or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the
person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on
that defence unless, within a period ending 7 clear days before the hearing, he
or she has served on the Attorney General a notice in writing giving such
information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person
as was then in his or her possession.
3 Powers
of purchase and inspection
(1) Inspectors may make
purchases of goods and any contracts for services for the purpose of
determining whether Regulations are being complied with.
(2) An inspector may, at
all reasonable times, and on production, if requested, of evidence of his or
her authority, exercise the powers described in paragraph (3) for the
purpose of determining whether an offence under Regulations has been committed.
(3) The powers
are –
(a) to
inspect and take samples of any goods which are, or which the inspector has
reasonable cause to believe are to be, offered or exposed for sale by retail
and to enter any land or premises (other than premises used only as a private
dwelling-house) for the purposes of such inspection or the taking of such
samples;
(b) to
require any person carrying on a business, or employed in or in connection with
a business, of offering or exposing for sale by retail any goods or of providing
services (other than services provided only for the purposes of business
carried on by other persons), to produce any documents relating to the
business;
(c) to
make copies of documents produced under sub-paragraph (b);
(d) to
seize and detain goods, if the inspector has reason to believe that their
examination is likely to produce evidence of the commission of an offence under
Regulations;
(e) to
seize and detain any document or goods which the inspector has reason to
believe may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under
Regulations.
(4) A person
who –
(a) wilfully
obstructs an inspector acting under paragraphs (1) to (3);
(b) wilfully
fails to comply with a requirement imposed under paragraph (3); or
(c) without
reasonable cause, fails to give to an inspector acting under paragraphs (1)
to (3) any other assistance or information which the inspector may reasonably
require in the exercise of his or her powers under those paragraphs,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term
of 6 months and to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[2]
(5) A person who, with
intent to deceive, produces or gives, in compliance with a requirement imposed
under paragraph (3), a document or information which the person knows is
or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular shall be
guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of 12 months and to
a fine.
(6) Nothing in paragraph (3)
shall be construed as requiring a person to answer any question or give any
information if to do so might incriminate him or as authorizing the taking of
possession of any such document as is mentioned in that paragraph which is in
the possession of a legal adviser.
4 Restriction
on disclosure of information obtained under Article 3
(1) This Article applies to
information obtained in the course of exercising powers conferred by Article 3,
apart from information that is in the public domain.
(2) No such information
shall be disclosed except –
(a) with
the consent of the person by whom or on whose behalf the information was given
or supplied or, as the case may be, of the owner of the goods to which the
information relates or of the documents from which the information is obtained;
(b) to
any Minister or States’ employee for the purpose of the exercise of any
function under this Law;
(c) with
a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purposes of any
investigation of, or criminal proceedings for, an offence under this Law or
Regulations; or
(d) for
the purposes of any civil proceedings under or connected with this Law.
(3) A person who
contravenes paragraph (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a
fine of level 3 on the standard scale.
5 Offence
of aiding, abetting, etc.
Any person who aids, abets, causes, counsels or procures the
commission of, or conspires, attempts or incites another person to commit, an
offence under this Law or Regulations shall also be guilty of the offence and
liable in the same manner as a principal offender to the penalty provided for
that offence.
6 Offence
committed by body corporate etc.
(1) Where an offence under
this Law committed by a limited liability partnership or body corporate is
proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be
attributable to, any neglect on the part of a person who is a partner of the
partnership, or director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the
body, or (in either case) any person purporting to act in any such capacity,
the person shall be guilty of the offence and liable in the same manner as the
partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for that offence.
(2) Where the affairs of a
body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) shall apply in
relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s
functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
7 Appeal
against detention of goods or documents
(1) A person carrying on a
business whose goods or documents are detained under Article 3 may apply
to the Royal Court for an order requiring them to be released to him or her or
another person.
(2) The Royal Court shall
only make an order for the release of goods or documents if it is satisfied
that they are not, or are no longer, required in any investigation of or
proceedings for an offence under this Law or Regulations.
8 Compensation
where no fault
(1) If an inspector detains
goods under Article 3, the Minister is liable to pay compensation to any
person having an interest in the goods in respect of any loss or damage caused
by reason of the exercise of the power if, and only if –
(a) there
has been no offence committed under this Law or under Regulations in relation
to the goods; and
(b) the
exercise of the power by the inspector is not attributable to any neglect or
default by the person seeking compensation.
(2) Any disputed question
as to the right to or the amount of any compensation payable under this Article
shall be determined by a single arbiter.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4),
the parties shall appoint an arbiter.
(4) If the parties cannot
agree on the appointment of an arbiter within a reasonable period, any party
may apply to the Judicial Greffier who shall appoint an arbiter.
9 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Price and Charge Indicators (Jersey) Law 2008.