Auctions Act 1985
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AUCTIONS ACT 1985
Auctions Act 1985 Index
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AUCTIONS ACT 1985
Index Section Page
PART I – MOCK AUCTIONS 5
1 Penalties for promoting or conducting mock auctions ............................................. 5
2 Interpretation of Part I ................................................................................................... 6
PART II – BIDDING AGREEMENTS 6
3 Certain bidding agreements to be illegal .................................................................... 6
4 Rights of seller of goods by auction where agreement subsists that some
person shall abstain from bidding for the goods ....................................................... 6
PART III – SALE OF LAND BY AUCTION 7
5 Rule respecting sale without reserve, etc .................................................................... 7
PART IV – MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTARY 8
6 Information to be exhibited ........................................................................................... 8
7 Penalties ........................................................................................................................... 8
8 Offences ............................................................................................................................ 8
9 Offences by bodies corporate ........................................................................................ 9
10 Persons convicted not to attend or participate in auctions ....................................... 9
11 Saving for other remedies .............................................................................................. 9
12 Interpretation ................................................................................................................... 9
13 Short title and commencement ................................................................................... 10
ENDNOTES 11
TABLE OF LEGISLATION HISTORY 11
TABLE OF RENUMBERED PROVISIONS 11
TABLE OF ENDNOTE REFERENCES 11
Auctions Act 1985 Section 1
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AUCTIONS ACT 1985
Received Royal Assent: 12 August 1985
Passed: 15 October 1985
Commenced: 15 November 1985
AN ACT
to amend the law relating to auctions, mock auctions, bidding
agreements; and for connected purposes.
GENERAL NOTE:
The maximum fines in this Act are as increased by the Criminal
Justice (Penalties, Etc.) Act 1993 s 1.
PART I – MOCK AUCTIONS
1 Penalties for promoting or conducting mock auctions
[P1961/47/1]
(1) Any person who promotes or conducts, or assists in conducting a mock
auction shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, for the purpose of this
Part a sale by auction shall be taken to be a mock auction if, but only if,
during the course of the sale —
(a) any lot is sold to a person bidding for it, and either it is sold to
him at a price lower than the amount of his highest bid for that
lot, or part of the price at which it is sold to him is repaid or
credited to him or is stated to be so repaid or credited, or
(b) the right to bid for any lot is restricted, or is stated to be restricted,
to persons who have bought or agreed to buy one or more lots, or
(c) any thing is given away or offered as a gift.
(3) A sale by auction shall not be taken to be a mock auction by virtue of
subsection (2)(a), if it is proved that the reduction in price, or the
repayment of credit, as the case may be —
(a) was on account of a defect discovered after the highest bid in
question had been made, being a defect of which the person
conducting the sale was unaware when that bid was made, or
Section 2 Auctions Act 1985
Page 6 AT 26 of 1985 c
(b) was on account of damage sustained after that bid was made.
2 Interpretation of Part I
[P1961/47/3]
(1) In this Part “stated
”, in relation to a sale by auction, means stated by or
on behalf of the person conducting the sale, by an announcement made
to the persons for the time being present at the sale.
(2) For the purposes of this Part —
(a) any bid stated to have been made at a sale by auction shall be
conclusively presumed to have been made, and to have been a bid
of the amount stated; and any reference in this Part to the sale of a
lot to a person who has made a bid for it includes a reference to a
purported sale thereof to a person stated to have bid for it,
whether that person exists or not;
(b) anything done in or about the place where a sale by auction is
held, if done in connection with the sale, shall be taken to be done
during the course of the sale, whether it is done at the time when
any lot is being sold or offered for sale by auction or before or
after any such time.
PART II – BIDDING AGREEMENTS
3 Certain bidding agreements to be illegal
[P1927/12/1]
(1) Subject to subsection (2), if any dealer agrees to give, or gives, or offers
any gift or consideration to any other person as an inducement or reward
for abstaining, or for having abstained, from bidding at a sale by auction
either generally or for any particular lot, or if any person agrees to
accept, or accepts, or attempts to obtain from any dealer any such gift or
consideration as aforesaid, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Where it is proved that a dealer has, previously to a sale by auction,
entered into an agreement in writing with one or more persons to
purchase goods at the auction bona fide on a joint account and has,
before the goods were purchased at the auction deposited a copy of the
agreement with the auctioneer, such an agreement shall not be treated as
an agreement made in contravention of this section.
4 Rights of seller of goods by auction where agreement subsists that
some person shall abstain from bidding for the goods
[P1969/56/3]
(1) Where goods are purchased at a sale by auction by a person who has
entered into an agreement with another or others that the other or the
Auctions Act 1985 Section 5
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others (or some of them) shall abstain from bidding for the goods (not
being an agreement to purchase the goods bona fide on a joint account)
and he or the other party, or one of the other parties, to the agreement is
a dealer, the seller may avoid the contract under which the goods are
purchased.
(2) Where a contract is avoided by virtue of subsection (1), then, if the
purchaser has obtained possession of the goods and restitution thereof is
not made, the persons who were parties to the agreement that one or
some of them should abstain from bidding for the goods the subject of
the contract shall be jointly and severally liable to make good to the seller
the loss (if any) he sustained by reason of the operation of the agreement.
(3) Subsection (1) applies to a contract made after the commencement of this
Act whether the agreement as to the abstention of a person or persons
from bidding for the goods the subject of the contract was made before
or after that commencement.
PART III – SALE OF LAND BY AUCTION
5 Rule respecting sale without reserve, etc
[P1867/48/5]
(1) The conditions of a sale by auction of any land shall state —
(a) whether such land will be sold without reserve, or subject to a
reserve price; and
(b) if there is a reserve price, whether a right to bid is reserved by or
on behalf of the seller.
(2) If subsection (1) is not complied with, the seller and the auctioneer shall
each be guilty of an offence.
(3) Where it is stated in such conditions that the land will be sold without
reserve, or to that effect —
(a) the seller shall be guilty of an offence if —
(i) he bids at the sale; or
(ii) employs any person to bid on his behalf, whether or not
that person bids at the sale, and
(b) the auctioneer shall be guilty of an offence if he knowingly takes
any bidding from any such seller or any such person employed by
the seller.
Section 6 Auctions Act 1985
Page 8 AT 26 of 1985 c
PART IV – MISCELLANEOUS AND SUPPLEMENTARY
6 Information to be exhibited
(1) During the whole time of a sale by auction the auctioneer conducting
such auction shall, unless exempted by regulations made by the Isle of
Man Office of Fair Trading, exhibit the prescribed notice at the place at
which such auction is being conducted in such manner as to be readily
observed by the persons attending the auction.1
(2) In subsection (1) ‘prescribed notice’ means a notice in such form and
containing such information with respect to the auction and the
auctioneer as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Isle of Man
Office of Fair Trading.2
(3) Regulations made under this section shall be laid before Tynwald.
(4) Any auctioneer who fails to comply with subsection (1) shall be guilty of
an offence.
7 Penalties
(1) Any person guilty of an offence under section l(l), 3(l), 5 or 10(2) shall be
liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term of six months
or to a fine of £5,000 or to both.
(2) Any person guilty of an offence under section 6(4) shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of £1,000.
8 Offences
(1) A prosecution for an offence under this Act shall not be instituted
without the consent of the Attorney General.
(2) Notwithstanding section 11 of the Petty Sessions and Summary Jurisdiction
Act 1927, a complaint relating to an offence under this Act may be tried
by a court of summary jurisdiction if it is laid —
(a) at any time within 1 year after the commission of the offence; or
(b) within 3 months after the date on which evidence sufficient in the
opinion of the Attorney General to justify the proceedings comes
to his knowledge,
whichever is the later.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) a certificate of the Attorney General as
to the date on which evidence sufficient in his opinion to justify
proceedings came to his knowledge shall be conclusive evidence.
Auctions Act 1985 Section 9
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9 Offences by bodies corporate
[P1961/47/2]
Where an offence punishable under this Act which has been committed by a
body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or
connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director,
manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person
purporting to act in such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be
deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against
and punished accordingly.
10 Persons convicted not to attend or participate in auctions
[P1969/56/2]
(1) On any conviction under this Act the court may order that the person so
convicted or that person and any representative of him shall not (without
leave of the court) for a period of not more than 3 years from the date of
such conviction enter upon any premises where goods intended for sale
by auction are on display or attend or participate in any way in any sale
by auction.
(2) In the event of a contravention of an order under this section, the person
who contravenes it (and, if he is the representative of another, that other
also) shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) In any proceedings against a person in respect of a contravention of an
order under this section consisting in the entry upon premises where
goods intended for sale by auction were on display, it shall be a defence
for him to prove that he did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that
goods so intended were on display on the premises, and in any
proceedings against a person in respect of a contravention of such an
order consisting in his having done something as the representative of
another, it shall be a defence for him to prove that he did not know, and
had no reason to suspect that that other was the subject of such an order.
(4) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this section by reason
only of his selling property by auction or causing it to be so sold.
11 Saving for other remedies
Subject to the provisions of section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1981 (which relates
to offences under two or more enactments), nothing in this Act shall derogate
from any right of action or other remedy (whether civil or criminal) in
proceedings instituted otherwise than under this Act.
12 Interpretation
In this Act —
Section 13 Auctions Act 1985
Page 10 AT 26 of 1985 c
“dealer
” means a person who in the normal course of his business attends sales
by auction for the purpose of purchasing goods with a view to reselling
them;
“sale by auction
” means any sale of land, property or animals at which the
persons present or some of them, are invited to buy one or more lots by
way of competitive bidding, and “competitive bidding
” includes any
mode of sale whereby prospective purchasers may be enabled to
compete for the purchase of articles, whether by way of increasing bids
or by the offer of articles to be bid for at successively decreasing prices or
otherwise.
13 Short title and commencement
(1) This Act may be cited as the Auctions Act 1985.
(2) This Act shall come into operation one month after it has been passed.3
Auctions Act 1985 Endnotes
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ENDNOTES
Table of Legislation History
Legislation Year and No Commencement
Table of Renumbered Provisions
Original Current
Table of Endnote References
1
Subs 1) amended by SD579/98. 2
Subs (2) amended by SD579/98. 3
Effective 15 November 1985.
