Singapore legislation
Section 20
Section 20
Pleading of warranty as defence
(1)
Subject to this section, in any proceedings for an offence under this Part or any subsidiary legislation made under this Part, being an offence relating to the quantity or prepacking of any goods, it is a defence for the person charged to prove —
that the person bought the goods from some other person —
as being of the quantity which the person charged purported to sell or represented, or which was marked on any container or stated in any document to which the proceedings relate; or
as conforming with the statement marked on any container to which the proceedings relate, or with the requirements of this Act and any subsidiary legislation made under this Act with respect to the prepacking of goods,as the case may require;
that the person so bought the goods with a written warranty from that other person that they were of that quantity or (as the case may be) did so conform;
that at the time of the commission of the offence the person had no reason to believe the statement contained in the warranty to be inaccurate, that the person did in fact believe in its accuracy and, if the warranty was given by a person who at the time of giving the warranty was resident outside Singapore, that the person charged had taken reasonable steps to check the accuracy of that statement; and
in the case of proceedings relating to the quantity of any goods, that the person took all reasonable steps to ensure that, while in the person’s possession the quantity of the goods remained unchanged and, in the case of such or any other proceedings, that apart from any change in their quantity the goods were at the time of the commission of the offence in the same state as when the person bought them.
(2)
A warranty is a defence in such proceedings only if, not later than 7 days before the date of the hearing, the person charged has sent to the prosecutor a copy of the warranty with a notice stating that the person charged intends to rely on it and specifying the name and address of the person from whom the warranty was received, and has also sent a like notice to that person.
(3)
Where the person charged is a servant of a person who, if the second‑mentioned person had been charged, would have been entitled to plead a warranty as a defence under this section, subsection (1) has effect as if any reference (however expressed) in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that subsection to the person charged, other than the first such reference in paragraph (c) of that subsection, were a reference to the employer of the person charged.
(4)
The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given is entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence.
(5)
If the person charged in any such proceedings wilfully attributes to any goods a warranty given in relation to any other goods, the person shall be guilty of an offence.
(6)
A person who, in respect of any goods sold by the person in respect of which a warranty might be pleaded under this section, gives to the buyer a false warranty in writing shall be guilty of an offence unless the person proves that when the person gave the warranty the person took all reasonable steps to ensure that the statements contained in the warranty were, and would continue at all relevant times to be, accurate.
(7)
For the purposes of this section, any statement with respect to any goods which is contained in any document required by this Act to be associated with the goods or in any invoice, and, in the case of goods made up in or on a container for sale or for delivery after sale, any statement with respect to those goods with which that container is marked, is deemed to be a written warranty of the accuracy of that statement.