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.
Adopted by the
States 7th November 2007
Sanctioned by
Order of Her Majesty in Council 12th February 2008
Registered by the
Royal Court 22nd
February 2008
THE STATES, subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have
adopted the following Law –
1 Interpretation
In this Law –
“inspector” has the same meaning as in the Weights and
Measures (Jersey) Law 1967[1];
“Minister” means the Minister for 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 4 on the standard scale.
(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
and commencement
This Law may be cited as the Price and Charge Indicators (Jersey) Law
2008 and shall come into force 7 days after it is registered.
a.h. harris
Deputy Greffier of the States