HOUSE OF LORDS ·
PROTECTION OF TRADING INTERESTS BILL
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE
NOTES ON CLAUSES
CLAUSE 3
Now the an
1.
Clause 3 contains penalty provisions relating to failures to comply
with and contraventions of the terms of orders or directions given by the
Secretary of State under Clauses 1 and 2. Comparable provisions are inclu-
ded in Section 3 of the Shipping Contracts and Commercial Documents Act
1964, but the Bill updates those penalties in the light of modern practice and of the broader coverage of the Bill and changes the nature of the mens rea from that in the 1964 Act.
2.
Subsection (1) provides that any person who without reasonable
excuse fails to comply with any requirement imposed by the Secretary of State under Clause 1(2), or who knowingly contravenes any directions given
under Clauses 1(3) or 2(1), is to be guilty of an offence. The penalties
are an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment, and on summary convic-
tion a fine up to a maximum figure (the "statutory maximum") specified in
Subsection (5).
3.
Subsection (2) limits the application of subsection (1) and ensures
that it has no objectionable extraterritorial effect. The subsection pro- vides that a person who is neither a citizen of the United Kingdom and
Colonies nor a body corporate incorporated in the United Kingdom shall not be guilty of an offence as described in subsection (1) in respect of
v