FOOD AND DRUGS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 52 Conditions under which warranty may be pleaded as defence.

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FOOD AND DRUGS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 52

Conditions under which warranty may be pleaded as defence.

52.(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, in any prosecution for an
offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, being an offence
consisting of selling, or offering, exposing or advertising for sale, or
having in possession for the purpose of sale, any article or substance, it
shall be a defence for the defendant to prove

(a)that he purchased it as being an article or substance which could lawfully
be sold or otherwise dealt with as aforesaid, or, as the case may be, could
lawfully be so sold or dealt with under the name or description or for the
purpose under or for which he sold or dealt with it, and with a written
warranty to that effect; and

(b)that he had no reason to believe at the time of the commission of the
alleged offence that it was otherwise; and

(c)that it was then in the same state as when he purchased it.

(2) A warranty shall only be a defence in a prosecution under this Act [or any
regulations made thereunder] if

(a)the defendant

(i)has, within seven days, or such longer period as the court may allow, of
the service of the summons, sent to the prosecutor a copy of the warranty with
a notice stating that he intends to rely on it and specifying the name and
address of the person from whom he received it; and

(ii)has also sent a like notice of his intention to that person; and

(b)where the warranty was given by a person resident outside the United
Kingdom, the defendant proves that he had taken reasonable steps to ascertain,
and did in fact believe in, the accuracy of the statement contained therein;
and

(c)where the prosecution is in respect of a sample of milk procured from him
[otherwise than by a sampling officer], the defendant either

(i)has within sixty hours after the sample was procured served such a notice
as is mentioned in [sub-section (2)] of section thirty-six; or

(ii)not having served such a notice, proves that he had reasonable cause to
believe that such a notice would have been of no effect by reason of the fact
that the milk in question was a mixture of milk produced on more than one
farm.

(3) Where the defendant is a servant of the person who purchased the article
or substance under a warranty, he shall be entitled to rely on the provisions
of this section in the same way as his employer would have been entitled to do
if he had been the defendant.

(4) The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given shall be
entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence, and the court may, if
it thinks fit, adjourn the hearing to enable him to do so.

(5) For the purposes of this section and section fifty-three, a name or
description entered in an invoice shall be deemed to be a written warranty
that the article or substance to which the entry refers can be sold or
otherwise dealt with under that name or description by any person without
contravening any of the provisions of this Act or of regulations made
thereunder.

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Northern Irish Legislation

FOOD AND DRUGS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 52