Pawnbrokers Act , 1964

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Pawnbrokers Act, 1964.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as may be fixed therefor by order of the Minister.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

“licence” means a licence under section 8;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“pawnbroker” includes any person who carries on the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn and in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) includes any person who—

(a) receives or takes from any other person any goods or chattels by way of security for the repayment of any sum of money not exceeding fifty pounds advanced thereon; or

(b) purchases, or receives or takes in, goods or chattels and pays or advances or lends thereon any sum of money not exceeding fifty pounds with or under an agreement or understanding expressed or implied or from the nature of the transaction to be reasonably inferred that those goods or chattels may be afterwards redeemed or purchased on any terms;

“pawner” means a person delivering an article for pawn to a pawnbroker;

“pawn-ticket”, except in section 14, includes a special contract pawn-ticket;

“pledge” means an article pawned with a pawnbroker;

“redemption period” means a period, commencing on the day next following the date of pawning, within which a pawnbroker may not lawfully sell or dispose of a pledge.

3 Application.

3.—This Act applies to every transaction entered into after the commencement of this Act in respect of a pledge on which a loan or advance not exceeding fifty pounds is made by a pawnbroker to a pawner but does not apply to any other transaction.

4 Servants, agents and representatives of pawnbrokers.

4.—(1) Anything authorised by this Act to be done by a pawnbroker may be done by his servant or agent.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, anything done or omitted by a servant or agent of a pawnbroker in the course of the business of the pawnbroker shall be deemed to be done or omitted, as the case may be, by the pawnbroker.

(3) The provisions of this Act relating to pawnbrokers shall have effect in relation to executors and administrators of deceased pawnbrokers, but an executor or administrator of a deceased pawnbroker shall not be personally liable to any penalty not incurred by his own act or default.

5 Transmission of rights, etc., of pawners.

5.—(1) Any rights, powers, privileges and benefits reserved to or conferred on pawners by this Act shall be deemed to be reserved to and conferred on the assignees of pawners and the executors and administrators of deceased pawners.

(2) Any person representing himself to a pawnbroker to be the assignee of a pawner or the executor or administrator of a deceased pawner shall, if so required by the pawnbroker, produce to him the instrument under which he claims.

6 Repeals and transitory provision.

6.—(1) The enactments set out in the First Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the said enactments, those enactments shall, until the 31st day of July, 1965, continue to have effect for the purpose of the grant of a pawnbroker's licence to a person who is not at the commencement of this Act the holder of such licence.

PART II Licensing of Pawnbrokers

7 Prohibition on carrying on business of a pawnbroker without licence.

7.—(1) A person shall not carry on the business of a pawnbroker at any premises unless he holds a licence which is in force in respect of those premises.

(2) A person who is the holder of a pawnbroker's licence granted under the Stamp Duties (Ireland) Act, 1842, shall, for so long as he holds such licence, be deemed to be duly licensed for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section until the 31st day of July next following the commencement of this Act.

(3) Any person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

8 Grant of licence.

8.—(1) The Revenue Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of this Act—

(a) upon application being made to them for a licence to carry on the business of a pawnbroker at a particular premises, and

(b) upon the production by the applicant of a certificate granted under section 10 in respect of those premises, and

(c) upon payment to them by the applicant of the excise duty for the time being required by law to be paid by a person taking out such licence, grant to the applicant a licence to carry on the business of a pawnbroker at those premises.

(2) A licence shall come into force on the date specified therein and shall expire on the next following 31st day of July.

9 Transfer of licence.

9.—A pawnbroker may transfer his licence to another person who has been granted a certificate under section 10 which is in force, but the transfer shall not take effect until the certificate has been produced to and endorsed by the Revenue Commissioners.

10 Grant of certificate.

10.—(1) The District Court may, upon application being made to it, grant to a person a certificate authorising the grant to him, subject to the provisions of this Act, of a licence.

(2) A separate certificate shall be required in respect of each licence sought.

(3) A certificate shall come into force on the date specified therein and shall expire on the next following 31st day of July.

(4) A certificate shall not be refused except on one or more of the following grounds:

(a) that satisfactory evidence has not been produced of the good character of the applicant;

(b) that satisfactory evidence has been produced that the applicant, or any person responsible or proposed to be responsible for the management of his business as a pawnbroker, is not a fit and proper person to hold a certificate;

(c) that the applicant, or any person responsible or proposed to be responsible for the management of his business as a pawnbroker, is by order of a court disqualified for obtaining a licence;

(d) that the applicant has failed to satisfy the Court that he is a person of financial stability;

(e) that the applicant is the holder of a bookmaker's licence granted under the Betting Act, 1931;

(f) that the applicant is the holder of a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor;

(g) that the applicant is an auctioneer; or

(h) that the applicant's premises are not suitable for the carrying on of a pawnbroker's business.

(5) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the Court to grant a certificate may appeal to the Circuit Court and the decision of that Court on the matter shall be final and not appealable.

(6) Whenever an application for a certificate is refused and an appeal from the refusal is lodged, then if the applicant was at the time of making the application the holder of a licence, the Revenue Commissioners may, without payment of any duty but subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose, issue to the applicant a temporary licence for such period not extending beyond the expiration of seven days after the decision of the appeal as they may think fit, and every such temporary licence shall while it remains in force be a licence within the meaning of this Act.

11 Suspension and cancellation of licence.

11.—(1) Where a pawnbroker is convicted of larceny, receiving stolen goods knowing them to have been stolen or any other offence involving fraud or dishonesty, the court before which he was convicted may, in addition to any other penalty imposed, order his licence to be suspended for such period as it thinks fit or to be cancelled.

(2) Where a pawnbroker is convicted of an offence mentioned in subsection (1) of this section and the court orders his licence to be suspended or cancelled and the pawnbroker appeals against the conviction or, if he has been convicted of more than one of those offences, against all of the convictions, the court before which he was convicted may, if it thinks fit, suspend the operation of its order suspending or cancelling the licence pending the hearing of the appeal.

(3) The District Court may, on the application of a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of inspector, suspend a licence for such period as it thinks fit, if satisfied that the pawnbroker is also carrying on business as an auctioneer or is the holder of a licence to sell intoxicating liquor or of a bookmaker's licence granted under the Betting Act, 1931, or has acted in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act.

(4) A pawnbroker whose licence has been suspended under subsection (3) of this section may appeal to the Circuit Court and the decision of that Court on the matter shall be final and not appealable.

(5) Whenever a licence has been suspended under subsection (3) of this section and an appeal against the suspension is lodged, the District Court may, if it thinks fit, suspend the operation of its order pending the hearing of the appeal.

(6) The suspension or cancellation of, or the failure to renew, a licence shall not prejudice or affect any right to redeem a pledge made before the date of the suspension or cancellation or the expiry of the licence, or any obligation or liability (whether arising by virtue of a contract or of any provision of this Act) subsisting at that date, and the pawnbroker holding the licence immediately before that date shall in respect of any pledge then held by him remain subject to the like obligations, liabilities and penalties as if the licence continued in force.

12 Forgery of certificate.

12.—(1) (a) A person who forges a certificate or tenders a certificate knowing it to be forged shall, without prejudice to any other enactment, be guilty of an offence.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not be construed so as to enable a person to be punished twice for any offence.

(2) A licence granted in pursuance of a forged certificate shall be void.

(3) Any person who makes use of a forged certificate knowing it to be forged shall be disqualified for obtaining a licence at any time thereafter.

13 Name and notice to be displayed.

13.—(1) A pawnbroker shall—

(a) keep displayed in large and legible characters over the outer door of the premises in which he carries on the business of a pawnbroker his name and the word “Pawnbroker”, and

(b) keep displayed in a conspicuous place in such premises printed in large and legible characters a notice containing the information set out in the Second Schedule.

(2) A pawnbroker who fails to comply with a requirement of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

PART III Pawning, Redemption and Sale of Pledges

14 Pawn-tickets.

14.—(1) A pawnbroker shall on taking a pledge in pawn give to the pawner a pawn-ticket and shall not take a pledge in pawn unless the pawner takes a pawn-ticket.

(2) A pawn-ticket shall contain the particulars set out in the appropriate form in Part I or Part II of the Third Schedule.

(3) A pawnbroker who fails to comply with any requirement of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

15 Special contracts and special contract pawn-tickets.

15.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, a pawnbroker may make a special contract with a pawner in respect of a pledge on which the pawnbroker makes a loan of more than ten pounds.

(2) (a) Where a pawnbroker makes a special contract with a pawner, he shall at the time of the pawning give to the pawner a special contract pawn-ticket which shall contain the particulars set out in Part III of the Third Schedule and shall be signed by the pawnbroker.

(b) A pawnbroker shall not take a pledge in pawn under a special contract under this section unless the pawner takes a special contract pawn-ticket.

(3) A duplicate of the special contract pawn-ticket shall be signed by the pawner.

(4) A special contract pawn-ticket and the duplicate thereof shall not be subject to stamp duty.

(5) The provisions of this Act shall apply to a special contract under this section save so far as excluded by the terms of the contract.

(6) A pawnbroker who fails to comply with paragraph (a), or contravenes paragraph (b), of subsection (2) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

16 Pawnbroker's books and records.

16.—(1) Every pawnbroker shall in the course of his business—

(a) keep a pledge book and a sale book in the form set out in Part I and Part II, respectively, of the Fourth Schedule, and

(b) use, as occasion requires, the documents set out in the Third Schedule in the forms therein specified.

(2) Every pawnbroker shall in the course of his business clearly and legibly enter, as occasion requires, in any book or document required to be kept or used by him such, particulars as are specified in the Third and Fourth Schedules and it shall be the duty of every pawnbroker to make all enquiries necessary for the purpose of complying with this subsection.

(3) A pawnbroker who fails to comply with any requirement of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

17 Loans in current money.

17.—(1) Every sum advanced by a pawnbroker in respect of goods taken in pawn by him shall be in good and lawful current money and no such sum shall be made up or completed by the inclusion of any other kind of value, benefit or payment.

(2) A pawnbroker who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a pawnbroker is convicted of an offence under this section, the court, whether or not it imposes a penalty—

(a) shall order the sum properly due to be paid by the pawnbroker to the pawner in good and lawful current money; and

(b) may in its discretion order the pawner to repay or return to the pawnbroker the whole or any part of the other kind of value, benefit or payment given to the pawner.

18 Division of loan prohibited.

18.—(1) A pawnbroker shall not divide the amount of the loan sought by any borrower into smaller sums.

(2) A pawnbroker who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

19 General restrictions on pawnbroker.

19.—(1) A pawnbroker shall not—

(a) knowingly take anything in pawn from a person under the age of sixteen years whether offered for pawning by that person on his own behalf or on behalf of another person;

(b) take anything in pawn from a person who appears to be intoxicated;

(c) take anything in pawn from a person whom he knows to be a habitual drunkard;

(d) purchase or take in pawn or exchange a pawn-ticket issued by him or by another pawnbroker;

(e) purchase, except at an auction held under this Act, any pledge in pawn with him;

(f) make any contract or agreement with any person pawning or offering to pawn any article, or with the owner of any article, for the purchase, sale or disposition thereof within the redemption period;

(g) employ any person under the age of sixteen years to take goods in pawn;

(h) take in pawn any article where he is aware or has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the pawning would be a contravention of section 25;

(i) take in pawn any firearm or ammunition; or

(j) sell or otherwise dispose of any pledge except in accordance with this Act.

(2) A pawnbroker who contravenes any provision of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a pawnbroker is charged with taking a thing in pawn from a person under the age of sixteen years whether offered for pawning by that person on his own behalf or on behalf of another person, it shall be a good defence for him to show that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the person was under the age of sixteen years.

20 Lawful interest and charges.

20.—(1) A pawnbroker may charge interest on a loan on a pledge at a rate not exceeding that specified in Part I of the Fifth Schedule.

(2) A pawnbroker may demand and take the charges specified in Parts II, III, IV and V of the Fifth Schedule.

(3) A pawnbroker shall, if so required at the time of the redemption of any pledge, give a receipt, which shall be in the form set out in Part IV of the Third Schedule, for the amount of the loan, interest and charges paid to him.

(4) Where a pawnbroker charges on a loan on a pledge interest greater than that permitted by subsection (1) of this section or takes or demands a charge greater than that permitted by subsection (2) of this section or fails or refuses to give a receipt in accordance with subsection (3) of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence.

21 Redemption periods.

21.—(1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the period within which a pledge (other than a pledge made up wholly or partly of gold, silver or other precious metal or of any precious or semi-precious stone) may be redeemed from a pawnbroker shall be the period of six months from the date on which the loan was made but, if the interest on the loan is paid within that period, the period within which such pledge may be redeemed shall be extended for a period of six months from the date up to which the interest was paid.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the period within which a pledge made up wholly or partly of gold, silver or other precious metal or of any precious or semi-precious stone may be redeemed shall be one year.

(3) There shall be added to the periods mentioned in subsections (1) and (2) of this section a further period of seven days during which a pledge may not be lawfully sold or disposed of by a pawnbroker and shall be redeemable.

(4) A pledge pawned for a sum exceeding two pounds and a pledge made up wholly or partly of gold, silver or other precious metal or of any precious or semi-precious stone shall further continue redeemable until it is disposed of as provided in this Act although the redemption period has expired.

22 Holder of pawn-ticket person entitled to redeem.

22.—(1) The holder for the time being of a pawn-ticket shall, as between the pawner and the pawnbroker, be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge to which the ticket relates and, accordingly, subject to the provisions of this Act, a pawnbroker shall, on delivery to him of a pawn-ticket and on payment of the loan and interest and any other charges payable under this Act, deliver the pledge to the person tendering the ticket and the pawnbroker shall retain the ticket for a period of not less than one year.

(2) A pawnbroker shall not, except as otherwise provided in this Act, be bound to deliver up a pledge unless the pawn-ticket in respect of it is delivered to him.

23 Offences relating to pawning and redeeming.