CHAPTER
333
MERCANTILE AGENTS |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
SECTION |
|
|
Dispositions by
Mercantile Agents |
Powers of mercantile agent with respect to
disposition of goods. |
Effect of pledges of documents of title. |
Pledge for antecedent debt. |
Rights acquired by exchange of goods or
documents. |
Agreements through clerks, etc. |
Provisions as to consignors and consignees. |
Dispositions by Sellers
and Buyers of Goods |
Dispositions by sellers remaining in possession. |
Disposition by buyers obtaining possession. |
Effect of transfer of documents on vendor's lien
or right of stoppage in transitu. |
Supplemental |
Mode of transferring documents. |
Saving for rights of true owner. |
Saving for common law powers of agent. |
CHAPTER 333 |
MERCANTILE AGENTS |
An Act
relating to mercantile agents. | 7 of 1904 |
[Commencement 2nd
May, 1904] |
1. This Act may be cited as the Mercantile Agents Act. | Short title. |
2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires- | Interpretation. |
"document of
title" includes any bill of lading, dock warrant, warehouse-keeper's
certificate and warrant or order for the delivery of goods and any other
document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or
control of goods, or authorising or purporting to authorise, either by
endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to transfer or
receive goods thereby represented; |
"goods"
includes wares and merchandise; |
"mercantile
agent" means a mercantile agent having in the customary course of his
business as such agent authority either to sell goods, or to consign goods for
the purpose of sale, or to buy goods, or to raise money on the security of
goods; |
"pledge"
includes any contract pledging, or giving a lien or security on goods whether
in consideration of an original advance or of any further or continuing advance
or of any pecuniary liability. |
(2) A person shall
be deemed to be in possession of goods or of the documents of title to goods,
where the goods or documents are in his actual custody or are held by any other
person subject to his control or for him or on his behalf. |
Dispositions by
Mercantile Agents |
3. (1) Where a mercantile agent is, with the consent of
the owner, in possession of goods or of the documents of title to goods, any
sale, pledge or other disposition of the goods, made by him when acting in the
ordinary course of business of a mercantile agent, shall, subject to the
provisions of this Act, be as valid as if he were expressly authorised by the
owner of the goods to make the same: | Powers of mercantile agent with respect to disposition
of goods. |
Provided that the
person taking under the disposition acts in good faith, and has not at the time
of the disposition notice that the person making the disposition has not
authority to make the same. |
(2) Where a
mercantile agent has, with the consent of the owner, been in possession of
goods or of the documents of title to goods, any sale, pledge or other
disposition, which would have been valid if the consent had continued, shall be
valid notwithstanding the determination of the consent: |
Provided that the
person taking under the disposition has not at the time thereof notice that the
consent has been determined. |
(3) Where a
mercantile agent has obtained possession of any documents of title to goods by
reason of his being or having been, with the consent of the owner, in
possession of the goods represented thereby, or of any other documents of title
to the goods, his possession of the first-mentioned documents shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be deemed to be with the consent of the owner. |
(4) For the
purposes of this Act the consent of the owner shall be presumed in the absence
of evidence to the contrary. |
4. A pledge of the documents of title to goods shall be
deemed to be a pledge of the goods. | Effect of pledges of documents of title. |
5. Where a mercantile agent pledges goods as security
for a debt or liability due from the pledgor to the pledgee before the time of
the pledge, the pledgee shall acquire no further right to the goods than could
have been enforced by the pledgor at the time of the pledge. | Pledge for antecedent debt. |
6. The consideration necessary for the validity of a
sale, pledge or other disposition, of goods, in pursuance of this Act, may be
either a payment in cash, or the delivery or transfer of other goods, or of a
document of title to goods, or of negotiable security, or any other valuable
consideration; but where goods are pledged by a mercantile agent in
consideration of the delivery or transfer of other goods, or of a document of
title to goods, or of a negotiable security, the pledgee shall acquire no right
or interest in the goods so pledged in excess of the value of the goods,
documents, or security when so delivered or transferred in exchange. | Rights acquired by exchange of goods or documents. |
7. For the purposes of this Act an agreement made with
a mercantile agent through a clerk or other person authorised in the ordinary
course of business to make contracts of sale or pledge on his behalf shall be
deemed to be an agreement with the agent. | Agreements through clerks, etc. |
8. (1) Where the owner of goods has given possession of
the goods to another person for the purpose of consignment or sale, or has
shipped the goods in the name of another person, and the consignee of the goods
has not had notice that such person is not the owner of the goods, the
consignee shall, in respect of advances made to or for the use of such person,
have the same lien on the goods as if such person were the owner of the goods,
and may transfer any such lien to another person. | Provisions as to consignors and consignees. |
(2) Nothing in
this section shall limit or affect the validity of any sale, pledge or
disposition, by a mercantile agent. |
Dispositions by
Sellers and Buyers of Goods |
9. Where a person, having sold goods, continues, or is,
in possession of the goods or of the documents of title to the goods, the
delivery or transfer by that person, or by a mercantile agent acting for him,
of the goods or documents of title under any sale, pledge, or other disposition
thereof, or under any agreement for sale, pledge or other disposition thereof,
to any person receiving the same in good faith and without notice of the
previous sale, shall have the same effect as if the person making the delivery
or transfer were expressly authorised by the owner of the goods to make the
same. | Dispositions by sellers remaining in possession. |
10. Where a person, having bought or agreed to buy
goods, obtains with the consent of the seller possession of the goods or the
documents of title to the goods, the delivery or transfer, by that person or by
a mercantile agent acting for him, of the goods or documents of title under any
sale, pledge or other disposition thereof, or under any agreement for sale,
pledge or other disposition thereof, to any person receiving the same in good
faith and without notice of any lien or other right of the original seller in
respect of the goods, shall have the same effect as if the person making the
delivery or transfer were a mercantile agent in possession of the goods or
documents of title with the consent of the owner. | Disposition by buyers obtaining possession. |
11. Where a document of title to goods has been
lawfully transferred to a person as a buyer or owner of the goods, and that
person transfers the document to a person who takes the document in good faith
and for valuable consideration, the last-mentioned transfer shall have the same
effect for defeating any vendor's lien or right of stoppage in transitu
as the transfer of a bill of lading has for defeating the right of stoppage in
transitu. | Effect of transfer of documents on vendor's lien or
right of stoppage in transitu. |
Supplemental |
12. For the purposes of this Act, the transfer of a
document may be by endorsement, or, where the document is by custom or by its
express terms transferable by delivery, or makes the goods deliverable to the
bearer, then by delivery. | Mode of transferring documents. |
13. (1) Nothing in this Act shall authorise an agent
to exceed or depart from his authority as between himself and his principal, or
exempt him from any liability, civil or criminal, for so doing. | Saving for rights of true owner. |
(2) Nothing in
this Act shall prevent the owner of goods from recovering the goods from an
agent or his trustee in bankruptcy at any time before the sale or pledge
thereof, or shall prevent the owner of goods pledged by an agent from having
the right to redeem the goods at any time before the sale thereof, on
satisfying the claim for which the goods were pledged, and paying to the agent,
if by him required, any money in respect of which the agent would by law be
entitled to retain the goods or the documents of title thereto, or any of them,
by way of lien as against the owner, or from recovering from any person with
whom the goods have been pledged any balance of money remaining in his hands as
the produce of the sale of the goods after deducting the amount of his lien. |
(3) Nothing in
this Act shall prevent the owner of goods sold by an agent from recovering from
the buyer the price agreed to be paid for the same, or any part of that price
subject to any right of set off on the part of the buyer against the agent. |
14. The provisions of this Act shall be construed in
amplification and not in derogation of the powers exercisable by an agent
independently of this Act. | Saving for common law powers of agent. |