Pawnbrokers Act, 1964

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 31/1964
• Year: 1964

Number 31 of 1964.
PAWNBROKERS ACT, 1964
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary and General
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Definitions. 3. Application. 4. Servants, agents and representatives of pawnbrokers. 5. Transmission of rights, etc., of pawners. 6. Repeals and transitory provision.
PART II
Licensing of Pawnbrokers
7. Prohibition on carrying on business of a pawnbroker without licence. 8. Grant of licence. 9. Transfer of licence. 10. Grant of certificates. 11. Suspension and cancellation of licence. 12. Forgery of certificate. 13. Name and notice to be displayed.
PART III
Pawning, Redemption and Sale of Pledges
14. Pawn-tickets. 15. Special contracts and special contract pawn-tickets. 16. Pawnbroker's books and records. 17. Loans in current money. 18. Division of loan prohibited. 19. General restrictions on pawnbroker. 20. Lawful interest and charges. 21. Redemption periods. 22. Holder of pawn-ticket person entitled to redeem. 23. Offences relating to pawning and redeeming. 24. Failure to deliver pledge to person entitled. 25. Unlawful pawning of property of another. 26. Delivery to owner of property unlawfully pawned. 27. Offences by pawnbroker in relation to certain pledges. 28. Owners and pawners of pledges not having pawn-tickets. 29. Unredeemed pledges. 30. Sale of pledges. 31. Right of pawnbroker to purchase at auction. 32. Right to inspect sale book and catalogue. 33. Right of pawner to surplus on sale. 34. Offences by auctioneers.
PART IV
Supplemental and Miscellaneous
35. Notification by Garda Síochána of lost and stolen property. 36. Persons presenting pawn-tickets suspected to be counterfeit. 37. Duty of pawnbroker in certain suspicious circumstances. 38. Persons escaping from or obstructing pawnbroker. 39. Defence for pawnbroker. 40. Storing of pledges and compensation for damage. 41. Liability of pawnbroker in case of damage caused by fire. 42. Unauthorised alteration of engravings. 43. Contracts not void on account of conviction of pawnbroker. 44. Attendance of pawnbroker before court and production of books, etc. 45. Frivolous complaints. 46. Power of entry, etc. 47. Penalties for offences.
FIRST SCHEDULE
SECOND SCHEDULE
THIRD SCHEDULE
FOURTH SCHEDULE
FIFTH SCHEDULE
SIXTH SCHEDULE
SEVENTH SCHEDULE
Acts Referred to Stamp Duties (Ireland) Act, 1842 1842, c. 82. Betting Act, 1931 1931, No. 27.
Number 31 of 1964.
PAWNBROKERS ACT, 1964
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO PAWN-BROKERS. [12th November, 1964.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
PART I Preliminary and General
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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...