Acting as a Pedlar Without a Certificate

For the first time during my stint on the bench we had a defendant before the court accused of acting as a pedlar without a certificate.

It is an offence under section 4 of the Pedlars Act 1871 for anyone to act as a pedlar unless they hold a certificate, granted by their local police, authorising them to do so.

A pedlar is defined by section 3 of the Act as follows: "any hawker, pedlar, petty chapman, tinker, caster of metals, or other person who, without any horse or other beast bearing or drawing burden, travels and trades on foot and goes from town to town or to other men's houses, carrying to sell or exposing for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise, or procuring orders for goods, wares, or merchandise immediately to be delivered."

With a few exceptions, this encompasses anyone selling bits and bobs door to door - you know the sort of thing.

The maximum penalty for an offence under section 4 is a fine not exceeding level 1 (currently £200).

Section 5 of the Act relates to the granting of pedlar's certificates by the police. A certificate should only be granted to a person aged 17 or older, who is of good character, who has lived in the locality for at least 28 days and who pays the application fee (currently £12.25). A certificate is only valid for one year, after which time a new certificate is required.

Applications are made in person at the local police station and the applicant requires two passport photos, photographic proof of identity, proof of their home address and the name of a referee prepared to vouch for their good character.

Section 17 of the Act imposes upon the pedlar a duty to show their pedlar's certificate, on request, to any of the following people: A Justice of the Peace, a police officer, a person to whom they are attempting to sell goods, any person on whose private grounds or premises they are found.

It is an offence, punishable by a maximum fine at level 1, for a pedlar to refuse to show their certificate to any of the people authorised to see it under section 17.

That concludes our brief delve into the Pedlars Act 1871!