Part of Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:00 pm on 4 July 2023.
Kevin Hollinrake
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
2:00,
4 July 2023
Clause 229 sets out that it is a criminal offence for a trader to engage in a commercial practice that involves any of the following: misleading actions, misleading omissions, aggressive practices, any of the practices in the list of banned practices in schedule 18, save for those expressly excepted, and/or knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice that contravenes the requirements of professional diligence.
Clause 230 describes the defences that may be available to defendants charged with offences under clause 229. These are a defence of due diligence and an innocent publication defence. To avail of the due diligence defence, a defendant must prove that the offence was due to the act or omission of a third party or information provided by a third party. The innocent publication defence is available, in certain circumstances, to a defendant charged with a relevant offence that is alleged to have been committed by the publication of an advertisement.
Government amendments 72 and 73 preserve the current effect of existing consumer law by excluding contraventions of the requirements of professional diligence from the offences to which these defences apply.
Clause 231 sets out the rules on liability when a trader commits an offence as a result of an act or omission by another person, and when a body corporate commits an offence. It is a restatement of the same provision in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, or CPRs.
Government amendments 74 to 77 preserve the current effect of the CPRs. This means that contraventions of professional diligence are excluded from the offences to which the criminal liability of others applies.
Clause 232 sets out the penalty for offences. It is a restatement of the same provision from the CPRs.
Clause 233 sets out the time limit for prosecution. This is within three years of the offence taking place, or within one year of the discovery of the offence by the prosecutor, whichever is earlier. The time limit is the same as set out in the CPRs and enforcers will be familiar with their application.
I hope that the Committee will support Government amendments 72 to 77 and clauses 229 to 233.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
