Shops Act 1950

74 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

• " bank holiday " includes any public holiday or day of public rejoicing or mourning ;

• " butcher's meat " means beef, mutton, veal, lamb or pork (including livers, heads, feet, hearts, lights, kidneys or sweetbreads), whether fresh, chilled, frozen or salted, and includes Kosher meat;

• " closing order " has the meaning assigned to it by section eight of this Act;

• " contravention ", in relation to any provision, includes any failure to comply with that provision ;

• " enactment " includes any Act, and any rule, regulation, bye-law or order made under any Act;

• " factory " has the same meaning as in the Factories Act, 1937;

• " general closing hours " means the hours fixed by or under section two of this Act or the hours substituted therefor by or under any other provision of this Act;

• " Kosher meat " means butchers' meat killed and prepared by the Jewish ritual method ;

• " local authority " has the meaning assigned to it by the last foregoing section;

• " owner ", in relation to any premises, has the same meaning as in the Public Health Act, 1936 ;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations made under section sixty-nine of this Act;

• " Public Health Acts " means the Public Health Act, 1936, or the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, as the case may be;

• " residential hotel " means premises used for the reception of guests and travellers desirous of dwelling or sleeping therein;

• " retail trade or business " includes the business of a barber or hairdresser, the sale of refreshments or intoxicating liquors, the business of lending books or periodicals when carried on for purposes of gain, and retail sales by auction, but does not include the sale of programmes and catalogues and other similar sales at theatres and places of amusement;

• " sanitary authority " means, save as respects London, the council of a borough or urban or rural district, and as respects London, the sanitary authority for the purposes of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936;

• " shop " includes any premises where any retail trade or business is carried on ;

• " shop assistant " means any person wholly or mainly employed in a shop in connection with the serving of customers or the receipt of orders or the despatch of goods;

• " theatre " includes any place used for the exhibition of pictures or other optical effects by means of a cinematograph or other suitable apparatus and any music hall or other similar place of entertainment; and " performance " has a corresponding meaning ;

• " week " means the period between midnight on Saturday night and midnight on the succeeding Saturday night;

• " weekly half-holiday " has the meaning assigned to it by section one of this Act;

• " wholesale shop " means premises occupied by a wholesale dealer or merchant where goods are kept for sale wholesale to customers resorting to the premises ;

• " the winter months " means the period beginning with the first Sunday in November in any year and ending with the day before the first Sunday in March in the succeeding year;

• " working hours " means the time during which the persons employed are at the disposal of the employer, exclusive of any intervals allowed for rest and meals; and " hours worked " has a corresponding meaning ;

• " young person " does not include a child whose employment is regulated by section eighteen of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, or section twenty-eight of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, but save as aforesaid means a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed to be between any two ages therein mentioned if he has attained the first-mentioned age but has not attained the second-mentioned age.

(3) Any reference in this Act to any enactment shall, except where the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment.