The Short Title of this Act is “The Pawnbrokers Act, 1908.”

This Act is a consolidation of the enactments mentioned in the First Schedule hereto, and with respect to those enactments the following provisions shall apply:—

Savings.

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

Every person who carries on the business of a pawnbroker without having previously obtained a pawnbroker’s license under this Act in manner and form hereinafter directed is guilty of an offence, and is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

No person holding an auctioneer’s license under any Act in reference to auctioneers shall be competent to hold a pawnbroker’s license.

Any person who wishes to obtain a pawnbroker’s license shall deliver to the Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court nearest to the place in which he intends to carry on business an application in the form numbered (1) in the Second Schedule hereto, recommended by five householders residing in the district in which the applicant applies.

If the Magistrate or Justices, at the next sitting of the said Court after the lapse of three days from the time when such notice was so delivered, are satisfied with the character of the person so applying, they may grant a license to such person, under their hands, in the form numbered (2) in the Second Schedule hereto.

Such license shall be in force for one year from the date thereof, and shall be delivered to the person so applying for it on payment of the sum of ten pounds.

The matter of all such applications shall be heard and determined in open Court, and shall be a judicial inquiry.

The Clerk of every Court by which such licenses are granted shall keep an alphabetical record thereof, and every such Clerk who neglects so to do is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

In any proceeding before any Court against any person alleged to be a licensed pawnbroker, and liable to such proceeding, the production of such alphabetical record shall be prima facie evidence of the personal identity of the person therein named, and that the said person is a licensed pawnbroker under this Act:

Provided that such other proof as to the fact of any person holding any such license may be admitted as the Court thinks fit.

In all proceedings under this Act against any person carrying on the business of a pawnbroker without a license, such person shall for all purposes connected with such proceedings be deemed to be unlicensed unless he produces to the Court his license, or produces other satisfactory proof of his being a licensed pawnbroker within the meaning of this Act.

Every person who holds a pawnbroker’s license shall and he is hereby required to have his name at length painted in legible characters at least two inches long, with the words “licensed pawnbroker,” constantly and permanently remaining and plainly to be seen and read over the door of each shop kept or made use of by him for carrying on his business; and any such licensed person who fails or neglects to comply with any of the requirements of this section is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Every person not actually holding a pawnbroker’s license who keeps up any sign, writing, painting, or other mark on or near to any shop implying or giving reasonable cause to believe that such shop is that of a licensed pawnbroker is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

A pawnbroker shall not by virtue of one license keep more than one shop for the purposes of his business, but for each shop which he keeps for the purpose aforesaid a separate and distinct license shall be taken out and paid for by him:

Provided that persons in partnership and carrying on the business of a pawnbroker in one shop only shall not be obliged to take out more than one license.

Every pawnbroker shall, on demand at his licensed shop, produce his license to any Justice, or to any constable authorised by any Justice in writing under his hand to demand the production thereof, and if such pawnbroker refuses or neglects to produce his license he shall be liable for every such refusal or neglect to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, unless some reasonable excuse for the non-production thereof can be given to the satisfaction of the Court hearing the case.

If any person having obtained a license lends the same to any other person for the purpose of carrying on business under colour thereof, he shall be liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and on conviction it shall be lawful for the convicting Court to declare the license void, and no such license shall thereafter be granted to the person so convicted for the period of two years from the date of the conviction.

Every person who forges, counterfeits, or alters, or causes to be forged, counterfeited, or altered, any license as aforesaid, or produces or shows any such forged, counterfeited, or altered license to any person entitled to demand the production of licenses, is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment with or without hard labour not exceeding two years, or to both fine and imprisonment, as the Court thinks fit.

If by information on oath it appears to any two or more Justices near to the place in which any pawnbroker is residing or carrying on his business that he has been guilty of any fraud or dishonesty in his business, or has been guilty of any offence against this Act relating to the business of pawnbrokers, and which fraud, dishonesty, or offence in the opinion of such Justices shows such pawnbroker to be an unfit person to carry on the business of a pawnbroker, then such Justices in their discretion (and independent of any other penalty such pawnbroker may have incurred or become liable to by reason of such offence) may absolutely deprive such pawnbroker of his license:

Provided that in the event of and after such deprivation he shall be allowed to pursue and wind up his business in respect of such pledges as he may have received previously to such deprivation, and not otherwise:

Provided also that such pawnbroker may appeal against such deprivation of license under the provisions of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908,” relating to appeals.

Every pawnbroker may demand and receive from any person applying to redeem any article pawned with such pawnbroker a profit not exceeding the following rates over and above the principal sum lent upon the respective pledges, that is to say:—

Provided that where the application to redeem a pledge is made within seven days after the expiration of the first month after the article was pledged, it may be redeemed without paying anything by way of profit to the pawnbroker for the said seven days, or for such part thereof as has then elapsed:

Provided also that where the application to redeem is made after the expiration of the first seven days and before the expiration of the first fourteen days of the second month, the article may be redeemed upon paying the profit payable for one month and the half of another month:

Provided further that where the application to redeem is made after the expiration of the said first fourteen days and before the expiration of the said second month, the pawnbroker may demand and take the profit of the whole second month; and the like regulation and restriction shall take place and be in force in every subsequent month wherein application is made for redeeming articles pawned.

The aforesaid sums shall be taken in lieu of and as a full satisfaction for all interest due and charges for warehouse-room or on any other account whatsoever.

Every pawnbroker shall cause to be painted or printed in large legible characters the rates of profit allowed by this Act to be taken by him according to the rates aforesaid, and place the same in a conspicuous part or parts of the licensed shop wherein he carries on business, and so as to be easily visible to and legible by any persons at or resorting to such shop.

Every pawnbroker shall, as hereinafter directed, forthwith, and before advancing any money on any pledge, enter in a book of large folio size to be kept for that purpose, all the particulars relating to every pledge received by him, that is to say:—

and shall subsequently enter a statement as to whether the pledge has been redeemed or is unredeemed; and if unredeemed, then whether sold or unsold; and, if sold, when, and through whom, and for what amount; and, if not sold, how otherwise disposed of.

Such particulars shall be kept in such book in separate, distinct, and immediately successive columns, and in the form numbered (3) in the Second Schedule hereto.

Every pawnbroker who fails or neglects to keep such book or to enter therein in manner aforesaid the particulars relating to any pledge received by him as hereinbefore mentioned is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Every pledge received by any pawnbroker shall be numbered with a number corresponding with the number of the entry of such pledge in the aforesaid book, and with the number on the pledge-ticket issued on such pledge to the pledger; and every such pledge shall be so placed and arranged in the shop of the pawnbroker as to be immediately accessible to the pawnbroker, and to be producible on demand to the pledger or such other persons, and within such time and under such circumstances as hereinafter mentioned.

Every pawnbroker at the time of taking any article in pawn shall give to the person pawning the same a pledge-ticket, which shall be a duplicate of every such entry fairly and legibly written, or partly written and partly printed, with the signature of such pawnbroker thereto attached, and containing every particular inserted in the original entry, and corresponding therewith in number.

Every pawnbroker who fails or neglects to comply with the provisions of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

No pawnbroker shall receive or retain any pledge unless such pledge-ticket is accepted at the time by the pledger, and every such pledge-ticket shall be delivered gratis, and shall be produced to the pawnbroker before he is obliged to redeliver the articles mentioned therein, or any of them.

Every person who forges or alters, or causes to be forged or altered, or knowingly assists in forging or altering any such pledge-ticket as aforesaid, or utters, sells, disposes of, or puts off any such forged or altered pledge-ticket (knowing the same to be forged or altered), with intent to defraud any person, or steals or unlawfully takes any pledge-ticket with a fraudulent intent to deprive the owner thereof or of any article specified therein, is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment with or without hard labour not exceeding two years, or to both fine and imprisonment, as the Court thinks fit.

Every person who at any time produces any pledge-ticket to the pawnbroker who gave the same, and requires delivery of the articles therein specified, claiming to be the owner or representing himself to be authorised by the owner thereof, shall be deemed and taken to be such owner or to be so authorised, and shall be entitled to redeem such articles accordingly, unless the pawnbroker has previously had notice from the real owner that such pledge-ticket has been lost by him or fraudulently taken or obtained from him, or the pawnbroker has been informed by some credible person that such articles have been stolen.

Where the pawnbroker refuses to deliver the articles to the person producing such pledge-ticket, he shall give immediate information of such, refusal and of the particular grounds thereof to a Justice or to some constable, together with a description of such person, or (if known to the pawnbroker) such person’s name and place of residence.

If any pledge-ticket is lost or mislaid by or fraudulently taken or obtained from the owner thereof, and the articles mentioned therein remain unredeemed, the pawnbroker who gave such pledge-ticket shall, at the request of any person representing himself to be such owner, deliver to such person a copy of such pledge-ticket, on his producing to and leaving with the pawnbroker a statutory declaration setting forth the circumstances of such loss or otherwise satisfactorily accounting for the non-production of such pledge-ticket.

No articles pledged shall be deemed to be or be treated or sold as forfeited until the expiration of three months in the case of wearing-apparel, and six months in any other case, from the time of the pledging of the same, exclusive of the day on which they were pledged.

At the expiration of the said period of three months or six months, as the case may require, or at the expiration of such longer period as has been agreed on, the articles pledged shall be deemed to be forfeited, and may be sold.

Every pawnbroker who under any circumstances or on any pretence sells or otherwise disposes of, or causes or knowingly suffers to be sold or disposed of, any pledged article before the expiration of the period prescribed as aforesaid, is liable for every such offence to a fine (over and above any damages for which he may be liable to the owner or party injured) not exceeding fifty pounds.

In every case where a longer time for redemption than the said period of three or six months has been agreed on such time shall be specified in the book to be kept as aforesaid, and shall be mentioned in like manner in the pledge-ticket required to be given to the pledger.

Any agreement for the forfeiture of any article (other than wearing-apparel) before the expiration of six months, or for the forfeiture of any wearing-apparel before the expiration of three months, from the time of the pledging of the same shall be wholly void.

All articles forfeited on which in the whole any sum above five shillings has been lent shall be sold by public auction and not otherwise; and a notice of every such sale, containing a catalogue of all such articles and the time when the same were respectively pledged, shall be twice inserted in some newspaper published in the county or district within which the same were pledged, four days at the least before the proposed day of sale, upon pain of forfeiting to the owner of any articles sold contrary to the provisions of this section a sum not exceeding twenty pounds, to be paid by the pawnbroker so offending.

In case any such article is sold for more than the full amount of the principal money and interest thereon which was due at the time of sale, then the overplus (deducting the necessary charges of such sale) shall, if claimed within twelve months next after such sale, be paid on demand to the person by or for whom such article was pledged, or his agents or assigns, or (in case of death) to his executor or administrator.

Every person by or for whom any such article as last aforesaid was pledged shall be permitted to inspect the entry of such sale thereof, and if any pawnbroker or person employed by a pawnbroker refuses to permit any such person to inspect any such entry (such person producing the pledge-ticket relating to the article respecting which such inspection is required), or does not produce the book containing such entry, or in any manner offends against the provisions of the last preceding section, every person so offending shall for every such offence be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

If in the course of any proceedings before any Court (whether under this Act or otherwise) it appears to the Court to be material or proper to require the production of any book, note, voucher, entry, memorandum, license, or other paper required by this Act to be kept by, or which ought to be in the custody of, any pawn-broker, the Court may summon such pawnbroker to attend before it and produce the same, and such pawnbroker is hereby required to produce the same accordingly.

If such pawnbroker does not attend on such summons, or does not produce any book, note, voucher, entry, memorandum, license, or other paper so required, or produces the same in an altered state, and does not show a reasonable excuse in that behalf to the Court, he shall be liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

If any Justice, on information on oath received by him from any person, thinks it necessary to the ends of justice to grant to any constable a warrant authorising him-to demand a search and inspection of the business books or book of any pawnbroker, or to obtain a copy of any entry or entries contained therein, or to obtain the inspection or possession (for the purpose of being produced in evidence or identified by the owner or by any one in his behalf) of any pledge then on the premises of such pawnbroker, such warrant for the purposes aforesaid shall and may be issued by such Justice to any constable as aforesaid, and shall in every case be in the form numbered (4) in the Second Schedule hereto.

No pawnbroker shall receive or take in, or permit or suffer to be received or taken in, any article by way of pledge or in exchange before eight of the clock in the forenoon, or after nine of the clock in the evening, excepting only until eleven of the clock on the evenings of Saturday throughout the year and the evenings next preceding Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Every pawnbroker who offends against the provisions of this section is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

No pawnbroker shall in any way carry on his business as such pawnbroker on any Sunday, Christmas Day, or Good Friday.

Every pawnbroker who offends against this provision is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Every person who knowingly pledges, exchanges, or otherwise unlawfully disposes of to a pawnbroker any article whatsoever belonging to any other person without the consent or authority of such owner, and with a fraudulent intent in any such case to deprive the owner (whether wholly or temporarily) of the use thereof, is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment with or without hard labour not exceeding two years, or to both fine and imprisonment, as the Court thinks fit.

Every pawnbroker, or any agent or servant employed by him, who at any time purchases, receives, or takes in pledge any article whatever from any person apparently under the age of fourteen years, or who is apparently intoxicated, or (in any case where the value of the pledge or the amount agreed to be lent thereon does not exceed ten pounds) advances on any article pledged or offered in pledge anything but money, or in respect of any such article gives, sells, or exchanges any goods or property in lieu of or in return for money, is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

If any article is stolen or unlawfully obtained from any person, or, being lawfully obtained, is unlawfully deposited, pledged, sold, or exchanged, and complaint is made thereof to any Justice and that such article is in possession of any pawnbroker, such Justice may issue a summons or warrant for the appearance of the pawnbroker before any two or more Justices and for the production of the article, and such Justices may order the same to be delivered up to the owner thereof either without any payment or on payment of such sum and at such time as they think fit.

Every pawnbroker who being so ordered refuses or neglects to deliver up such article, or who disposes of or makes away with the same after notice that the article was stolen or unlawfully obtained as aforesaid, shall forfeit to the owner of such article the full value thereof, to be determined by the said Justices:

Provided that no such order shall bar any such pawnbroker from recovering possession of such article by action from the person into whose possession it may come by virtue of the order of the said Justices, if such action is commenced within three months next after such order is made.

Any two or more Justices may order that any article unlawfully pledged or exchanged which is brought before them, and the ownership of which is established to their satisfaction, shall be delivered up to the owner by the party with whom it was so unlawfully pledged or exchanged, either without compensation or with such compensation to the party in question as the Justices deem fit.

In case any person who offers by way of pledge, exchange, or sale any article is not able or refuses to give a satisfactory account of himself or of the means by which he became possessed of such article, or wilfully gives any false information to the pawnbroker or to his servant as to whether such article is his own property or not, or of his name or place of abode, or of the name and place of abode of the owner of the article, or if there is any other reason to suspect that such article is stolen or otherwise illegally or clandestinely obtained, or if any person not entitled nor having any colour of title by law to redeem any article in pledge attempts or endeavours to redeem the same, the pawnbroker,, or his servants or agents, to whom such article is so offered or with whom it is in pledge may seize and detain such person and the said article so offered as aforesaid, and deliver such person immediately into the custody of a constable.

Such constable shall, as soon as may be, convey such person and the article so offered before some Justice or Justices near to the place where such person is apprehended.

If such Justice or Justices on examination and inquiry have cause to suspect that the said article was stolen or illegally or clandestinely obtained, or that the person offering or endeavouring to redeem the same has not pretence or colour of right to redeem the same, such Justice or Justices may commit such person into safe custody for such reasonable time as is necessary for obtaining proper information on the subject in order to be further examined.

If on either of the said examinations it appears to the satisfaction of such Justice or Justices that the article was stolen or illegally obtained, or that the person offering or endeavouring to redeem the same has no pretence or colour of right so to do, the said Justice or Justices shall commit the party offending to any prison, there to be dealt with according to law where the nature of the offence authorises such commitment by any other law, and where the nature of the offence does not authorise such commitment by any other law, then such commitment shall be for any term not exceeding three months, at the discretion of the Justice or Justices.

For any offence against any of the provisions of this Act not hereinbefore provided for the party offending shall, on complaint on oath made before any Magistrate or two or more Justices near to the place of business of such party, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

One-half of every such fine shall go to the informer and the other half thereof to the Consolidated Fund.

All fines and penalties authorised or required to be imposed by this Act shall be recovered or enforced in a summary way before a Magistrate or any two or more Justices in the manner provided by “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

All fees for licenses granted under this Act shall be paid to the local authority of the district in which the shop in respect of which such license is granted is situate.

For the purposes of this section “district” means a borough, a county (excepting town districts), and a town district (whether forming part of a county or not); and within any county where “The Counties Act, 1908,” is suspended means a road district or town district.

If the shop is not situate in a district as defined, the license fees received in respect thereof shall be paid into the Public Account and form part of the Consolidated Fund.

All the provisions of this Act shall extend to the executors, administrators, and assigns of every pawnbroker in the same manner as the same extend to and include the pawnbroker when living, save and except that no such executor or administrator shall be answerable for any fine or penalty personally or out of his own moneys or estate unless the same is incurred by his own act or neglect.

No action shall be brought against any Magistrate, Justice, or constable for or on account of any matter or thing whatsoever done or commanded to be done by him in the execution of his duty or office under this Act against any person offending or suspected to be offending against the provisions of this Act, unless there is direct proof of corruption or malice.

If any person is at any time sued, molested, or prosecuted for anything done or executed by him in pursuance of any provision of this Act, he may plead a general denial, and give the special matter in evidence for his defence.

All such actions shall be commenced within three months next after the cause thereof has arisen.

No information, conviction, or other proceeding before or by any Justice or Justices for any offence against this Act shall be quashed or set aside or adjudged void or insufficient for want of form, or be removed by certiorari or otherwise into the Supreme Court.

This Act does not apply to loans or advances made on any goods, live-stock, wool, bonds, bills, or other security by merchants, brokers, commission agents, bankers, or auctioneers in the ordinary and bona, fide course of mercantile or banking transactions.