Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022

Miscellaneous and supplementary

49 Offence of purporting to act as authorised to exercise enforcement function

(1) A person who is not authorised to exercise a function of the Secretary of State under this Chapter commits an offence if the person purports to act as a person who is so authorised.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine;

(b) on summary conviction in Scotland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;

(c) on summary conviction in Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

50 Means of giving notices

(1) A notice under this Chapter may be given to a person by—

(a) handing it to the person,

(b) leaving it at the person’s proper address,

(c) sending it by post to the person at that address, or

(d) subject to subsection (7), sending it to the person by electronic means.

(2) A notice to a body corporate may be given to the secretary or clerk of that body.

(3) A notice to a partnership may be given to a partner or a person who has the control or management of the partnership business.

(4) For the purposes of this section and of section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of a person is—

(a) in the case of a body corporate or its secretary or clerk, the address of the body’s registered or principal office;

(b) in the case of a partnership, a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business, the address of the principal office of the partnership;

(c) in any other case, the person’s last known address.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) the principal office of a company registered outside the United Kingdom, or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom, is its principal office within the United Kingdom.

(6) If a person has specified an address in the United Kingdom, other than the person’s proper address within the meaning of subsection (4), as the one at which the person or someone on the person’s behalf will accept notices of the same description as a notice under this Chapter, that address is also treated for the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 as the person’s proper address.

(7) A notice may be sent to a person by electronic means only if—

(a) the person has indicated that notices of the same description as a notice under this Chapter may be given to the person by being sent to an electronic address and in an electronic form specified for that purpose, and

(b) the notice is sent to that address in that form.

(8) A notice sent to a person by electronic means is, unless the contrary is proved, to be treated as having been given at 9 am on the working day immediately following the day on which it was sent.

(9) In this section—

• “electronic address” means any number or address used for the purposes of sending or receiving documents or information by electronic means;

• “working day” means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United Kingdom.

51 Liability of authorised representatives

(1) This section applies where a manufacturer that is not established in the United Kingdom authorises a person in the United Kingdom, with the agreement of that person, to perform any of the duties listed in subsection (3) on behalf of the manufacturer.

(2) In this Part “authorised representative”, in relation to a manufacturer, means a person authorised by the manufacturer as mentioned in subsection (1).

(3) The duties referred to in subsection (1) are—

(a) any duties under regulations made under section 9(6) (duties relating to statements of compliance);

(b) the duties under section 11(2) and (3) (duties to take action in relation to compliance failures);

(c) the duty under section 12(1) (duty to maintain records).

(4) If the authorised representative fails to comply with the duty, the authorised representative may be proceeded against under this Part for failing to comply with the duty.

(5) Subsection (4) does not affect the liability of the manufacturer under this Part for a failure to comply with the duty.

52 Offences by directors, partners etc

(1) Where an offence under this Part has been committed by a body corporate and it is proved that the offence—

(a) has been committed with the consent or connivance of a person listed in subsection (2), or

(b) is attributable to any neglect on the part of such a person,

that person (as well as the body corporate) is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) The persons referred to in subsection (1)(a) are—

(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body;

(b) any person who was purporting to act in such a capacity.

(3) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member, in connection with that management, as if the member were a director of the body corporate.

(4) Where an offence under this Part has been committed by a Scottish partnership and it is proved that the offence—

(a) has been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner in the partnership or a person purporting to act as such a partner, or

(b) is attributable to any neglect on the part of such a person,

that person (as well as the partnership) is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.