Medicines Act 1968

Offences, and provision for disqualification

67 Offences under Part III

(1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect subject to sections 121 and 122 of this Act.

(2) Any person who contravenes any of the following provisions of this Part of this Act, that is to say, sections 52, 58, 63, 64 and 65, or who contravenes any regulations made under section 60 or section 61 or any order made under section 62 of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a medicinal product is sold, supplied or imported in contravention of an order made under section 62 of this Act, any person who, otherwise than for the purpose of performing or exercising a duty or power imposed or conferred by or under this Act or any other enactment, is in possession of the medicinal product, knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that it was sold, supplied or imported in contravention of the order, shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) Any person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £400;

(b) on conviction oh indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

(5) Any person who contravenes section 53 or section 54(1) or an order made under section 54(2) of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

(6) Any regulations made under section 66 of this Act may provide that any person who contravenes the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400 or such lesser sum as may be specified in the regulations.

68 Disqualification on conviction of certain offences

(1) Where in proceedings brought by an enforcement authority a person is convicted of an offence under section 67(6) of this Act in respect of any premises used for carrying on a retail pharmacy business, then on the application of that authority the court by or before which he was convicted may (subject to the following provisions of this section) make an order disqualifying him from using those premises for the purposes of such a business for such period, not exceeding two years, as may be specified in the order.

(2) The court shall not make an order under this section disqualifying a person in respect of any premises unless the court thinks it expedient to do so having regard—

(a) to the gravity of the offence of which he has been convicted as mentioned in the preceding subsection, or

(b) to the unsatisfactory nature of the premises, or

(c) to any offences under section 67(6) of this Act of which he has previously been convicted.

(3) No order under this section shall be made against a person on the application of an enforcement authority unless the authority have, not less than fourteen days before the date of the hearing, given him notice in writing of their intention to apply for such an order to be made against him.

(4) If, while an order under this section disqualifying a person hi respect of any premises is in force, the premises are used for the purposes of a retail pharmacy business carried on by him, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400.

(5) Subject to the next following subsection, at any time after the end of the period of six months from the date on which an order under this section comes into force, the person to whom the order relates may apply to the court by which the order was made to revoke the order or to vary it by reducing the period of disqualification.

(6) On any application made under subsection (5) of this section the court may revoke or vary the order as mentioned in that subsection if it thinks it proper to do so having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including in particular the conduct of the applicant and any improvement in the state of the premises to which the order relates ; but, if on any such application the court refuses to revoke or vary the order, no further application made by the applicant under that subsection shall be entertained if it is made within three months from the date of the refusal.

(7) The court to which an application under subsection (5) of this section is made shall have power to order the applicant to pay the whole or any part of the costs of the application.

(8) In the application of this section to Scotland, for references to an enforcement authority and to costs there shall be substituted respectively references to the procurator fiscal and to expenses.