Counter-Inflation Act 1973
1973 CHAPTER 9 cross-notes
An Act to establish a Price Commission and a Pay Board; to authorise the formulation of the principles to be applied by those bodies; to afford powers of control over prices, pay, dividends and rents; to provide for the furnishing of information about rates; and for connected purposes.
[22nd March 1973]
Parts IβIV
1
(1)(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1 (3)(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F2 (5)(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F33, 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F56
(1)β(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F6 (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F99, 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1011β13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1114 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F12 Part V Supplemental cross-notes
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1316 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1417 Offences cross-notes
(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F15 (2)β(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F16 (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F15 (6) F17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . where an offence under this Act [F18 or the M1 Price Commission Act 1977 F18] committed by a 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, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. [F18 Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the preceding provisions of this subsection shall apply in relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate. F18]
(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F19 (8) Nothing contained in or having effect under this Act [F20 or the M2 Price Commission Act 1977 F20] , and nothing made illegal by this section, shall give rise to any criminal or tortious liability for conspiracy, or to any other liability in tort . . .
F21 (9) Proceedings for an offence under this Act shall not be instituted in England or Wales except by or with the consent of the Attorney General, or in Northern Ireland except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland [F22 and in any such proceedings it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence. F22]
(10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1918 Offences by unincorporated bodies. cross-notes
(1)β(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F23 (4) Where an offence is alleged to have been committed under this Act by an unincorporated body . . .
F24 (a) proceedings for the offence shall be brought in the name of that body (and not in that of any of its members),
(b) for the purpose of any such proceedings any rules of court relating to the service of documents shall have effect as if that body were a corporation, and
(c) any fine imposed on conviction shall be enforceable, by way of execution, diligence or otherwise, against the funds of that body.
(5) M3 Where an offence mentioned in subsection (4) above is an offence punishable on conviction on indictment, section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 and [F25 Schedule 3 to the M4 Magistratesβ Courts Act 1980 F25] shall have effect as if the said body were a corporation.
(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F2319 Application to Scotland. cross-notes
(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect for the application of this Act to Scotland.
(2) (a) Where an offence mentioned in section 18(4) of this Act is an offence punishable on conviction on indictment [F26 section 74 of the M5 Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 F26] (proceedings on indictment against bodies corporate) shall have effect as if the said body were a body corporate.
(b) Section 17(8) of this Act shall not apply but nothing contained in, or having effect under, this Act or made illegal by that section shall be relevant for the purposes of any proceedings in reparation . . .
F2720 Application to Northern Ireland. cross-notes
(1)(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F28 (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F29 (4) M6 Where an offence mentioned in section 18(4) of this Act is an offence punishable on conviction on indictment, section 18 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 and [F30 Schedule 4 to the M7 Magistratesβ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 F30] (procedure on charge of an offence against a corporation) shall have effect as if the body there mentioned were a corporation.
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F31 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F31 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F32 and Schedule 4 to this Act shall apply as if
(i) M8 for references to a local weights and measures authority and to an inspector or chief inspector appointed under the Weights and Measures Act 1963 there were substituted respectively references to the Ministry of Commerce for Northern Ireland and any of its officers;
(ii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F33 (iii) references in paragraph 4 to a Minister of the Crown included references to a Minister of Northern Ireland and to a department of the Government of Northern Ireland.
(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F28 (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F34 (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F2921, 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F3523 Short title, supplemental provisions and repeals. cross-notes
(1) [F36 This Act may be cited as the Counter-Inflation Act 1973. F36]
(2) Schedules 3 and 4 to this Act (provisions about orders and notices, and about enforcement) shall have effect for supplementing this Act.
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F36 SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1
1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F37 2 (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F38 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F39 3 (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F40 (2)β(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F41 4β8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F42 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F43 10β19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F44 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F45 SCHEDULE 2 . . .
F46 SCHEDULE 3
Part I
1 (1)(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F47 (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F48 (4)β(10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F47 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F49 3 (1)(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F50 (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F51 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F50 4, 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F52 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F53 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F54 Part II
8 (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F55 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F56 9, 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F57 Section 23.
SCHEDULE 4 Enforcement
1β3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F58 Restriction on disclosure of information obtained under this Act
4 C9 (1) This paragraph applies to information given or supplied pursuant to Part V of this Act, or obtained in the course of exercising the powers conferred by paragraph 3 above.
(2) No such information shall be disclosed exceptβ
(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 the owner of the goods or the occupier of the land or premises, or
(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F59 (c) to any Minister of the Crown, or an officer or servant appointed by, or person exercising functions on behalf of, a Minister of the Crown, or
(d) in the case of information obtained by a person acting on behalf of a local weights and measures authority, to any officer of that authority, or
(e) with a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purpose of, any criminal proceedings pursuant to or arising out of this Act, . . . F60[F61 or the M9 Price Commission Act 1977 F61] .
[F62 , or
(f) for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of the Price Commission F62] .
(3) Sub-paragraph (2) above does not apply to information given or supplied to [F63 the Price Commission F63] in proceedings to which the public are admitted, or contained in any report of [F63 the Price Commission F63] .
(4) If a person contravenes the provisions of this paragraph he shall be liableβ
(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding Β£400, and
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine.
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .