Counter-Inflation Act 1973
1973 CHAPTER 9
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]
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Parts I—IVU.K.
1
(1)(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5)(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
3, 4.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
6
(1)—(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
9, 10.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
11—13.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
Part VU.K. Supplemental
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
17 OffencesU.K.
(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(2)—(4).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . where an offence under this Act [or the Price Commission Act 1977] 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. [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.]
(7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(8)Nothing contained in or having effect under this Act [or the Price Commission Act 1977], 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 . . .
(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 [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.]
(10). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Marginal Citations
18 Offences by unincorporated bodies.U.K.
(1)—(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)Where an offence is alleged to have been committed under this Act by an unincorporated body . . .
(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)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 [Schedule 3 to the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980] shall have effect as if the said body were a corporation.
(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Marginal Citations
19 Application to Scotland. U.K.
(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 [section 74 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975] (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 . . .
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Marginal Citations
20 Application to Northern Ireland.U.K.
(1)(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)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 [Schedule 4 to the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981] (procedure on charge of an offence against a corporation) shall have effect as if the body there mentioned were a corporation.
(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and Schedule 4 to this Act shall apply as if
(i)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). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(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). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Marginal Citations
21, 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
23 Short title, supplemental provisions and repeals.U.K.
(1) [This Act may be cited as the Counter-Inflation Act 1973.]
(2)Schedules 3 and 4 to this Act (provisions about orders and notices, and about enforcement) shall have effect for supplementing this Act.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1U.K.
1U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
(2)—(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4—8.U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10—19.U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SCHEDULE 2U.K. . . .
SCHEDULE 3U.K.
Part IU.K.
1(1)(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)—(10). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3(1)(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4, 5.U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Part IIU.K.
8(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.
(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9, 10.U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Section 23.
SCHEDULE 4U.K. Enforcement
1—3U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restriction on disclosure of information obtained under this ActU.K.
4(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.U.K.
(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 the owner of the goods or the occupier of the land or premises, or
(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(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, . . . [or the Price Commission Act 1977].
[, or
(f)for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of the Price Commission].
(3)Sub-paragraph (2) above does not apply to information given or supplied to [the Price Commission] in proceedings to which the public are admitted, or contained in any report of [the Price Commission].
(4)If a person contravenes the provisions of this paragraph he shall be liable—
(a)on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400, and
(b)on conviction on indictment to a fine.
Textual Amendments
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Marginal Citations
5U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SCHEDULE 5U.K. . . .
SCHEDULE 6U.K. . . .