Section 3: Offences by bodies corporate and partnerships etc
16.Section 3 provides for situations where the offence is committed by a body corporate or a partnership. Subsection (1) provides that the body is to be treated as having the requisite knowledge that the equipment will be or is intended to be used for the purposes of criminal conduct if a person who has responsibility within the body has that knowledge. Subsections (2) and (8) provide (respectively) that where the offence is committed by a body corporate or partnership, and it is proved that an officer or partner either:-
consented or connived to the offence, or
that the offence was attributable to neglect on the part of the officer or partner,
then that person is guilty of the offence (as well as the body itself) and may be prosecuted and dealt with accordingly. By subsection (9), such neglect can only be attributed if the officer or partner ought reasonably to have known of the facts giving rise to the offence.
