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SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to shops and for
purposes connected therewith{1}.
[28th February 1946] 4 PS1000 P ART I on one week day (in this
Part of this Act referred to as ""the weekly half-holiday'') in
every week, not later than one o'clock in the afternoon; and C >>(
b ) on one week day (in this Part of this Act referred to as
""the late day'') in every week, not later than nine o'clock in
the evening; and C >>( c ) on all week days (in this Part of
this Act referred to as ""normal week days'') other than the weekly
half-holiday or the late day at such hour not later than eight
o'clock in the evening as the [{2}district council]
may by order fix, or, if no such hour is so fixed, at eight
o'clock in the evening.

[(1A) The district council may by order applying either throughout
its district or in any specified part thereof exempt all shops or
shops of any specified class from the operation of sub-section (1)
(a) of this section and, where the case requires, sub-section (2)
of section 2.]

(2) The [district council] may, subject to the provisions of this
Part of this Act, by order fix the weekly half-holiday or the late
day or both and any such order may fix the same weekly
half-holiday or the same late day for all shops or may fix

(a)different weekly half-holidays or different late days for different
classes of shops; or

(b)different weekly half-holidays or different late days for different
parts of the [district of the district council]; or

(c)different weekly half-holidays or different late days for different
periods of the year;

Provided that

(i)the late day shall be either Friday or Saturday unless the
[district council] by order fix some other day as the late day;

(ii)where the day fixed as the weekly half-holiday is a day other
than Saturday, the order shall provide for enabling Saturday to be
substituted for such other day, and where the day fixed as the
weekly half-holiday is Saturday, the order shall provide for enabling
some other day specified in the order to be substituted for
Saturday; and

<(iii)unless and until a weekly half-holiday is fixed by order made under this section, the weekly half-holiday shall be such day as the occupier may specify in a notice affixed to the shop, but it shall not be lawful for the occupier to change the weekly half-holiday oftener than once in any period of three months.

(3) The [district council] may by order (in this Part of this Act
referred to as "a closing order") fix the hour at which, on the
normal week days, either throughout the [district of the district
council] or in any specified part thereof, all shops or shops of
any specified class are to be closed for serving customers:

Provided that the hour fixed by a closing order shall not (subject
to the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the weekly
half-holiday) be earlier than six o'clock in the evening on any
week day.

(4) [An order under this section] may define the shops and trades
to which the order applies, and may contain any incidental,
supplemental, or consequential provisions.

(5) Nothing in this or the next three succeeding sections of this
Act or in any closing or other order made thereunder shall prohibit

(a)the serving of a customer on any day within half-an-hour after
the time fixed by or under this or the next three succeeding
sections of this Act for the closing of the shop on that day
where it is proved that the customer was in the shop before the
time so fixed;

(b)any of the transactions mentioned in the First Schedule to this
Act, or, subject to the provisions of that Schedule and to the
provisions of section ten of this Act regarding mixed trading, the
keeping open of any shop in which the sole business carried on
consists exclusively of any one or more of such transactions; or

(c)the keeping open of any shop for the serving of customers not
later than nine o'clock on any one or more of the following days:

(i)the two days immediately preceding Easter Day, or

(ii)the two week days immediately preceding the twelfth day of July,
or

<(iii)the six week days immediately preceding Christmas Day.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 2
Special provisions as to closing hours in relation to certain
trades.

2.(1) The provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) of this section
shall, subject to the provisions of section ten of this Act
regarding mixed trading, apply to any shop in which the sole
business carried on is that of a tobacconist, newsagent, fruiterer,
confectioner, or vendor of table waters or of any combination of
any two or more of those trades and the provisions of sub-section
(2) of this section shall also apply to any shop in which the
sole business carried on is that of a pharmaceutical chemist or
chemist and druggist or druggist.

(2) In the case of any shop to which this sub-section applies the
weekly half-holiday shall be such day as the occupier of the shop
may select and specify in a notice affixed to the shop, but it
shall not be lawful for the occupier of the shop to change the
weekly half-holiday oftener than once in any period of three months,
or to keep the shop open for the serving of customers after one
o'clock in the afternoon of such weekly half-holiday.

(3) In the case of any shop to which this sub-section applies, the
shop shall be closed for the serving of customers on the late day
not later than nine o'clock in the evening and on normal week days
not later than eight o'clock in the evening:

Provided that the [district council] may, if satisfied that the
occupiers of at least two-thirds in number of the shops to be
affected so desire, by Order substitute for the hour specified by
this sub-section for the closing of the shop on the late day or
on the normal week days respectively, any other time which in
either case is not more than one hour earlier or later than the
hour specified by this sub-section.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 3
Special provisions as to holiday resorts.

3.(1) In places frequented as holiday resorts during certain seasons
of the year, the [district council] may by order, during such
period of the year as may be specified in the order, substitute
for the closing hours fixed for any week day (including the weekly
half-holiday and the late day) by or under the two preceding
sections of this Act such later hours as they may think fit if,
upon application being made to them for an order under this
section, they are satisfied that such an order is desired by the
occupiers of the majority of the shops to be affected by the
order:

Provided that the [district council] shall not in any year by
orders under this sub-section substitute later hours for the closing
hours fixed for any week day by or under the said two preceding
sections of this Act, for periods exceeding four months in the
aggregate in that year.

(2) Any order under this section

(a)may be made so as to apply to the whole or to any part of
the [district of the district council], and to all shops, or to
shops of any class, within that [district] or part; and

(b)shall be made subject to such conditions as the [district
council] may consider necessary for securing that a person shall not
be employed in or about the business of a shop affected by the
order for more than such number of hours (not exceeding the number
of hours of employment permitted under Part II of this Act) as may
be specified by the order; and

(c)may suspend the operation of any closing order made under the
said two preceding sections of this Act which is, for the time
being, in force in the 2district of the district council].

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 4
Power to grant exemption in respect of exhibitions.

4.(1) As respects any retail trade or business carried on at an
exhibition or show within the [district of the district council, the
district council] may by order substitute for the closing hours
fixed by or under the three preceding sections of this Act, later
hours, not being later than eleven o'clock in the evening, if they
are satisfied that the retail trade or business so carried on is
subsidiary or ancillary only to the main purposes of the exhibition
or show.

(2) Any order under this section shall be made subject to such
conditions as the [district council] may consider necessary for
securing that persons affected by the order shall not be employed
in or about the retail trade or business to which the order
relates for more than such number of hours as may be specified by
the order.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 5
Power to suspend closing provisions on special occasions.

5.(1) The Ministry of Home Affairs (in this Act referred to as
"the Ministry") may by order for such purposes as it thinks fit
suspend the operation of any of the provisions of sections one and
two of this Act relating to closing hours during the Christmas
season or in connection with any other special occasion, and while
any order under this sub-section is in force the provisions of any
order made by a [district council] under the said sections shall be
deemed to be suspended except in so far as may be otherwise
directed by the order of the Ministry.

(2) Subject as hereafter in this sub-section provided, a [district
council] may, in connection with any special occasion, by order
suspend the operation of any of the provisions of sections one and
two of this Act relating to the closing of shops and the
provisions of any closing order made by the [district council]
thereunder for such period as they think fit:

Provided that a [district council] shall not in any year by orders
under this sub-section suspend the operation of any of the said
provisions for more than seven days in the aggregate in that year.

Closing of shops on Sunday.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 6

6. Every shop shall, save as otherwise provided by this Act, be
closed for the serving of customers on Sunday:

Provided that nothing in this Part of this Act or in any order
made thereunder (other than an order made under the next succeeding
section) shall prohibit any of the transactions mentioned in the
Second Schedule to this Act, nor, subject to the provisions of that
Schedule and to the provisions of section ten of this Act regarding
mixed trading, the keeping open of any shop in which the sole
business carried on consists exclusively of any one or more of such
transactions, so long as any condition imposed by that Schedule in
relation to such transaction or transactions is complied with in all
respects.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 7
Special provisions in respect of exempted transactions.

7.(1) As respects shops which, by virtue of any provision in this
Part of this Act, may be open for the serving of customers on
Sunday for the purpose of any transaction mentioned in the Second
Schedule to this Act, the [district council] may, if satisfied that
the occupiers of at least two-thirds in number of the shops to be
affected so desire, by order provide that those shops or any class
of those shops specified in the order, being shops situated in
their [district] or in such part thereof as may be so specified,
shall cease to be entitled to be open for the serving of customers
on Sunday for that purpose:

Provided that an order made under this section shall not

(a)apply to shops in which the sale of meals or refreshments for
consumption on the premises forms a substantial part of the business
carried on therein; nor

(b)prohibit the sale on Sunday of meals and refreshments elsewhere
than at a shop except to such extent and subject to such
conditions as may be specified in the order.

(2) An order made under this section may provide for the provisions
thereof being in force throughout the year or during such periods
as may be specified in the order, and may be made subject to such
conditions as may be specified in the order.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 8
Special provisions as to Sunday opening in holiday resorts.

8. Where the [district] or any part of the [district of a district
council] is a district which is frequented as a holiday resort
during certain seasons of the year, the [district council] may by
order provide that on such Sundays as may be specified in the
order, shops or any class of shops, being shops situated in the
district or in such part thereof as may be so specified, may,
subject to such conditions and during such hours as may be so
specified be open for the serving of customers for the purpose of
any of the transactions specified in the Third Schedule to this Act
or such or them as may be specified in the order:

Provided that the Sundays specified in any such order shall not be
more than eighteen in any year.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 9
Special provisions for persons observing the Jewish Sabbath.

9.(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the occupier of
any shop who is a person of the Jewish religion shall be entitled,
upon making to the [district council] an application in accordance
with the provisions of this section, to have the shop registered
under this section by the [district council], and so long as the
shop is so registered then

(a)the shop shall be closed for all purposes connected with trade
or business on Saturday; and

(b)the provisions of this Part of this Act requiring the shop to
be closed for the serving of customers on Sunday shall not apply
until two o'clock in the afternoon; and

(c)there shall be kept conspicuously placed in the shop a notice
stating that it will be closed on Saturday and, if the shop will
be open for the serving of customers on Sunday after two o'clock
in the afternoon for the purposes of any transaction for which it
is permitted under this Act to be so open, specifying the hours
during which, and the purposes for which, it will be so open.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise any person
to carry on the business of a retail dealer in any kind of
butchers' meat on Sunday or to open a shop for that purpose unless

(a)the sole business which may be carried on in that shop on
Sunday is the sale of Kosher meat (that is, butcher's meat killed
and prepared by the Jewish ritual method);

(b)he is duly licensed for the sale of Kosher meat by the Chief
Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire for
the time being, or by some person or body of persons appointed by
such Chief Rabbi in that behalf;

(c)all other provisions of this section relating to the opening of
a shop on Sunday by a person who is of the Jewish religion are
duly complied with in every respect.

(3) Any application for the registration of a shop under this
section shall be in the prescribed form and shall be accompanied

(a)by a statutory declaration made by the occupier of the shop in
such form as may be prescribed declaring that he conscientiously
objects on religious grounds to carrying on trade or business on
the Jewish Sabbath; and

(b)by such further statutory or other declarations and certificates,
if any, made by such persons, and in such form, as may be
prescribed.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a shop occupied by a
partnership or company shall be deemed to be occupied by a person
of the Jewish religion if the majority of partners or of the
directors, as the case may be, are persons of that religion, but
not otherwise, and such a shop shall not be registered under this
section unless the statutory declaration required by paragraph (a) of
the last foregoing sub-section is made by the majority of partners
or directors and specifies the names and addresses of all the other
partners or directors.

(5) If for the purpose of procuring the registration of any shop
under this section any person knowingly or recklessly makes an
untrue statement or untrue representation, he shall be liable on
summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to both such
imprisonment and fine.

(6) So long as a shop is registered under this section

(a)no other shop occupied by the same occupier shall be kept open
for any purpose connected with trade or business on Saturday;

(b)no person by whom the statutory declaration aforesaid has been
made in connection with the application for the registration of the
shop shall be employed or engaged on the Jewish Sabbath about the
business of any shop or shall so employ, or be directly concerned
in the control or management of any partnership or company which so
employs, any person.

(7) Where any person is convicted of any contravention of any of
the provisions of this section, the court may, in addition to any
other penalty, order the registration of any shops occupied by him
or by any partnership or company in the control or management of
which he is directly concerned to be revoked:

Provided that the court shall not order the registration of any
shop not occupied, or not occupied solely, by the person convicted
to be revoked except after affording an opportunity to the occupier
or to the other occupiers, as the case may be, to appear and be
heard.

(8) If upon representations made to them it appears to the
[district council] that there is reason to believe

(a)that the occupier of any shop registered under this section is
not a person of the Jewish religion; or

(b)that a conscientious objection on religious grounds to carrying on
business on the Jewish Sabbath is not genuinely held by the
occupier of the shop, or in the case of a shop occupied by a
partnership or company by the majority of the partners or of the
directors, as the case may be;

(9) In the event of any change in the occupation of a shop
registered under this section, it shall be the duty of the person
who becomes the occupier to serve on the [district council] notice
of the change, and in the event of any change in any partnership
or among the directors of any company by which such a shop is
occupied, it shall be the duty of the partnership, or of the
company, as the case may be, to serve on the [district council] a
notice giving particulars of the change, and, whether or not such a
notice is served, the registration of the shop shall, upon the
expiration of a period of fourteen days from the date on which the
change occurred, be deemed to be cancelled, unless within that
period, or within such further time as may be allowed by the
[district council], a fresh application under this section is made
in respect of the shop;

Provided that, where such a fresh application is made by reason of
a change in any partnership or among the directors of any company
by which the shop is occupied, the [district council] may dispense
with the statutory or other declaration or certificates required by
sub-section (3) or (4) of this section in the case of any person
who has made such a declaration in connection with a former
application in respect of that shop or any other shop in the
[district of the district council].

(10) The registration of any shop under this section shall be
cancelled upon application in that behalf being made to the
[district council] by the occupier of the shop, but shall not be
so cancelled during the period of twelve months from the date on
which an application for registration of the shop was last made.

(11) Where an application is made to a [district council] in
accordance with the provisions of this section for the registration
of a shop under this section

(a)the [district council] shall refuse to register the shop if the
registration of that shop has been revoked or has been cancelled
under the last foregoing sub-section while the shop was in the
occupation of the applicant; and

(b)the [district council] may refuse to register the shop if the
registration of that shop or of any other shop occupied or formerly
occupied by the applicant, or by any partnership or company of
which he was a partner or director, has been revoked or cancelled.

(12) Where the [district council] refuse to register a shop in
accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of the foregoing
sub-section, they shall serve notice of their refusal upon the
applicant, and, if the applicant is aggrieved by such refusal, he
may, within twenty-one days of the date when the notice was so
served upon him, appeal against such refusal to a court of summary
jurisdiction for the petty sessions district in which the shop is
situated, ....

(13) This section shall apply to persons who are members of any
religious body regularly observing the Jewish Sabbath as it applies
to persons of the Jewish religion, and references therein to persons
of the Jewish religion shall be construed accordingly as including
any person who is a member of such a body, and in the application
of this section to such persons this section shall have effect as
if for the reference therein to the Chief Rabbi of the United
Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire or his local
representative in Northern Ireland there were substituted a reference
to such persons as appear to the Ministry to represent such body.

(14) As respects any shop which is for the time being registered
under this section Part II of this Act shall have effect as if
for references therein to week-days there were substituted references
to week-days other than Saturdays.

Subs.(15) rep. by 1953 c.3 (NI) s.6(2) sch.1

Provisions as to mixed trading.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 10

10.(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where several
trades or businesses are carried on in the same shop, that shop
shall

(a)if those trades or businesses include any trade or business which
does not consist exclusively of any one or more of the transactions
specified in the First Schedule to this Act, be closed for the
serving of customers on any week day at the hour at which it
would be required to be closed if such last-mentioned trade or
business (or, where there are more than one such last-mentioned
trade or business, the one required to be closed earliest on that
day) were the only trade or business carried on therein; and

(b)if those trades or businesses include any trade or business which
does not consist exclusively of any one or more of the transactions
specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, be closed for the
serving of customers on Sunday:

Provided that if the occupier of the shop satisfies the [district
council] that any trade or business forms a substantial part of the
business carried on in the shop and that the portion of the shop
in which it is carried on (in this sub-section referred to as "the
said portion") is so constructed as to be effectively shut off from
the rest of the shop, the following provisions shall have effect,
that is to say:

(i)the [district council] on the application of the occupier may, if
they think fit, issue a certificate certifying that the said portion
is so constructed as to be effectively shut off from the rest of
the shop;

(ii)while such certificate remains in force the said portion shall,
during such times as it is so effectively shut off, be deemed for
the purposes of this Act to be a separate shop, and so much of
the rest of the shop as does not include any other portion in
respect of which another certificate under this sub-section has been
issued and is in force shall also be deemed for such purposes to
be a separate shop;

<(iii)if the [district council] is at any time satisfied that the said portion is no longer capable of being effectively shut off from the rest of the shop it may revoke such certificate.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the
issue of any certificate under the preceding sub-section:

(a)in so far as the certificate is to be issued for the purpose
of enabling portion of a shop to be opened after the hours at
which it would otherwise be required to be closed on any week day,
any trades or businesses carried on in that portion and consisting
exclusively of any two or more of the transactions specified in
paragraph 1 of the First Schedule to this Act shall be regarded as
a single trade or business; and

(b)in so far as the certificate is to be issued for the purpose
of enabling portion of a shop to be opened on Sunday, any trades
or businesses carried on in that portion and consisting exclusively
of any two or more of the transactions specified in paragraph 1 of
the Second Schedule to this Act shall be regarded as a single
trade or business.

(3) Where several trades or businesses are carried on in any shop
in which

(a)the supply of meals and refreshments for consumption on the
premises forms a substantial portion of the business carried on; or

(b)the sale of newspapers and periodical magazines is carried on; or

(c)the business of a pharmaceutical chemist, chemist and druggist, or
druggist is carried on;

(4) If any shop or portion of a shop is kept open for the
purposes of any trade or business after the time when, if that
trade or business was the only trade or business carried on in
that shop or portion it would by or under this Act be required to
be kept closed for the serving of customers, the occupier shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of not exceeding, in the
case of a first offence, twenty pounds, and in the case of a
second or subsequent offence, fifty pounds.

(5) If any person is convicted of any offence under or by virtue
of any of the provisions of this section the court may, in
addition to any other penalty and notwithstanding any other provision
in this Act, direct that the shop or portion of the shop in
respect of which the offence occurred be kept closed for the
serving of customers during all such times as a shop, in which the
sole trade or business carried on was the trade or business in
respect of which the offence occurred, would be required under this
Act to be closed for the serving of customers.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 11
Provisions as to despatch of goods.

11.(1) Goods sold retail to a customer shall not be despatched for
delivery from a shop at any time when under the provisions of this
Act a customer could not be served with those goods in that shop:

Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply

(a)on any Sunday being also Christmas day; or

(b)on any Sunday when the succeeding Monday is Christmas day; or

(c)to the sale or despatch of newspapers; or

(d)to the despatch of any fresh fish or game from the premises of
any fishmonger or game dealer.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the despatch of goods in
the ordinary way of trade from any wholesale shop or warehouse to
a person carrying on any retail trade or business.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 12
Local inquiries for the purpose of promoting and facilitating early
closing.

12.(1) Where it appears to the Ministry, on the representation of
the [district council] or a joint representation from a substantial
number of occupiers of shops and shop assistants in the [district
of the district council], that it is expedient to ascertain the
extent to which there is a demand for early closing or otherwise
in any locality, and to promote and facilitate the making of an
order under this Act in that locality, the Ministry may appoint a
competent person to hold a local inquiry.

(2) If, after holding such an inquiry and conferring with the
[district council], it appears to the person holding the inquiry
that it is expedient that an order under this Act should be made,
he shall prepare a draft order and submit it to the Ministry
together with his report thereon.

(3) If the Ministry, after considering the draft order and report,
and any representations which the [district council] may have made
in respect thereof, is of opinion that an order under this Act
should be made, it may communicate its decision to the [district
council], and thereupon there shall be deemed to be a prima facie
case for making an order under this Act in accordance with the
terms of the draft order, subject to such modifications (if any) as
the Ministry may think fit.

(4) The person who held the inquiry shall, if so directed by the
Ministry on the application of the [district council], assist and
co-operate with the [district council] in taking the steps
preliminary to making the order.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 13
Procedure for making orders.

13.(1) Whenever a [district council] are satisfied that a prima
facie case is made out for the making of an order which they are
empowered to make under this Part of this Act (other than an order
which they are empowered to make under sections three or four of
this Act) the [council] shall give public notice in the prescribed
manner and in the prescribed form of their intention to make the
order, specifying therein a period (not being less than the
prescribed period) within which objections may be made to the making
of the proposed order, and, if after taking into consideration any
objections that may be received, the [district council] are satisfied
that it is expedient to make the order and that the occupiers of
not less than two-thirds in number of the shops or classes of
shops to be affected by the order approve the order, they may make
the order.

(2) Where several trades or businesses are carried on in the same
shop the [district council] shall require the occupier of the shop
to specify which trade or business he considers to be his principal
trade or business and no trade or business other than that so
specified shall, for the purpose of determining a majority or number
of occupiers of shops under this Act, be deemed to be carried on
in that shop.

(3) Notice of the provisions of the order shall be given, and
copies thereof shall be supplied in the prescribed manner, and the
order shall be submitted to the Ministry, and the Ministry shall
consider any objections to the order, and may either disallow the
order or confirm the order with or without amendment.

(4) As soon as the Ministry has confirmed any order made as
aforesaid, the order shall become operative and binding:

Provided that every such order shall, as soon as may be after it
is confirmed by the Ministry, be laid before each House of
Parliament and if either House of Parliament within the statutory
period next after such order has been laid before it, resolves that
the order shall be annulled, the order shall, after the date of
the resolution, be void, but without prejudice to the validity of
anything previously done thereunder or to the making of a new
order.

(5) Any such order as aforesaid may be varied or revoked by a
subsequent order made in the like manner and subject to the like
provisions.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 14
Revocation of orders.

14. The Ministry may, at any time on the application of the
[district council] or otherwise, revoke an order under this Part of
this Act either absolutely or so far as it affects any particular
class of shops, and, if at any time it is made to appear to the
satisfaction of the [district council] that the occupiers of a
majority of any class of shops to which an order under this Part
of this Act applies are opposed to the continuance of the order,
the [district council] shall apply to the Ministry to revoke the
order in so far as it affects that class of shops, but any such
revocation shall be without prejudice to the making of any new
order.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 15
Saving for licensed premises.

15. This Part of this Act shall not apply to premises licensed for
the sale of intoxicating liquors whether for consumption on or off
the premises and accordingly references in this Part of this Act to
a shop shall not be construed as including a reference to any such
premises.

Hours of employment.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 16

16.(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act regarding
the employment of young persons a person shall not save as provided
by this section be employed in or about the business of a shop
for more than the normal maximum working hours, that is to say,
forty-eight working hours in any week.

(2) On occasions of seasonal or exceptional pressure of work at any
shop a person, not being a young person, may, subject as hereafter
in this section provided, be employed in or about the business of
the shop overtime, that is to say, in excess of the normal maximum
working hours:

Provided that

(a)no person shall be employed in or about the business of a shop
in any week after he has been employed (whether in that shop or
elsewhere) overtime for twelve working hours in that week;

(b)every person employed overtime in or about the business of a
shop shall in respect of such overtime be entitled to receive from
his employer overtime pay at a rate in excess of the rate at
which he is paid in respect of his normal maximum working hours
and the rate payable for overtime shall be either

(i)that which is prescribed in that behalf under or by virtue of
any enactment other than this Act or which is the customary
overtime rate in the trade in which the person is employed, or

(ii)if no overtime rate is so prescribed or is customary in that
trade, then at least five-fourths of the rate payable to him in
respect of normal working hours, and each such rate shall, for the
purposes of this paragraph, be calculated on an hourly basis.

(3) Any agreement made by or with any person employed in or about
the business of a shop for the payment of overtime pay at a rate
which is less than that prescribed by this section shall be void.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 17
Intervals for meals.

17. Every person employed in or about the business of a shop shall
be allowed intervals for meals in accordance with the Fourth
Schedule to this Act:

Provided that this provision shall not apply to a shop if the only
persons employed therein are members of the family of the occupier
of the shop maintained by him and dwelling in his house.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 18
Weekly half-holiday.

18.(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act regarding
the employment of young persons, a person employed in or about the
business of a shop shall not, on at least one week day in each
week, be so employed after half-past one o'clock in the afternoon.

(2) The occupier of the shop shall fix, and shall specify in a
notice in the prescribed form, which must be exhibited in any
manner which may be prescribed and be readily available to all
persons employed in or about the business of the shop and produced
on demand to such persons and to any inspector appointed by a
[district council] for the purposes of this Act, the day of the
week on which such persons are not employed after half-past one
o'clock and may fix different days for different persons.

(3) Where the occupier of a shop to which any order made under
section three of this Act (which relates to holiday resorts) is in
force satisfies the [district council] that it is his practice to
allow, and that he will allow, all persons employed in or about
the business of the shop a holiday on full pay of not less than
two weeks in addition to statutory holidays in every year, this
section shall not apply during the period or periods for which that
order is in force.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 19
Holidays allowed in respect of Sunday employment.

19.(1) In the case of a person employed on a Sunday in or about
the business of a shop which is permitted to open for the serving
of customers on that day, the following provisions shall have
effect:

(a)if he is employed for more than four hours on any Sunday, that
person shall

(i)receive in respect of his employment on that Sunday a whole
holiday on a day other than that of his statutory half-holiday, if
any, and that whole holiday shall be on a week day of the week
beginning with that Sunday unless he has, in respect of his
employment on that Sunday, already received such a holiday on a
week day of the previous week;

(ii)not be employed about the business of a shop on more than two
other Sundays in the same month;

(b)if he is not employed for more than four hours on a Sunday in
any month, that person shall receive in respect of his employment
on any Sunday in the month, a half-holiday in addition to his
statutory half-holiday, if any, and that additional half-holiday shall
be on a week day of the week beginning with that Sunday unless he
has, in respect of his employment on that Sunday, already received
such a half-holiday on a week day of the previous week:

Provided that this section shall not apply

(i)to any person employed wholly or mainly as a milk roundsman; or

(ii)to any person wholly employed in the transaction of Post Office
business; or

<(iii)to any pharmaceutical chemist, or chemist and druggist or druggist employed in connection with the sale or supply of medicines or medical or surgical appliances in any premises required to be kept open on Sunday for the serving of customers in pursuance of a contract made between the occupier of the premises and the Ministry of Labour, if he is not employed for more than two hours on that Sunday, and has not been employed on the previous Sunday, and if on a week day (other than the day of the statutory half-holiday) of the previous week or of the week commencing with the Sunday on which he is so employed, either he has not been, or will not be, employed, before half-past ten o'clock in the morning, or has not been, or will not be, employed after six o'clock in the afternoon.

(2) The occupier of any shop which is permitted to be open for
the serving of customers on Sunday shall keep in the prescribed
form and in the prescribed manner a record of the names of and
the hours worked by all persons employed in or about the business
of a shop on Sunday who are entitled to any holidays by virtue of
this section, and of the respective days of the week upon which
those persons receive those holidays and such record shall be
readily available to all persons employed in or about the business
of the shop and shall be produced on demand to such persons and
to any inspector appointed by a [district council] for the purposes
of this Act.

(3) Nothing in this section shall authorise the employment of any
person at any time when it would under any other provision of this
Act or under any other enactment be unlawful for him to be so
employed.

(4) For the purposes of this section, in relation to any person
employed in or about the business of a shop, the following
expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them,
that is to say, "whole holiday" means a day on which that person
is not employed in or about the business of that shop; "statutory
half-holiday" means a day on which, under this Part of this Act he
is not employed in or about the business of that shop after
half-past one o'clock in the afternoon; "half-holiday" means a day
on which he is either not employed before, or not employed after
half-past one o'clock in the afternoon of that day in or about the
business of that shop.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 20
Holidays with pay.

20.(1) Every person employed in or about the business of a shop
shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be entitled to
holidays of at least one week's duration in respect of his
employment for any period of twelve months (and so in proportion
for any lesser period of employment) and shall in respect of the
period of any such holidays receive from his employer wages at a
rate which is not less than the rate of wages to which he was
entitled immediately before such holidays.

(2) The holidays to which any person is entitled under the
preceding sub-section shall be in addition to any half-holidays or
holidays to which he may be entitled under any other provision of
this Part of this Act or under any other enactment.

(3) Any agreement for the payment of holiday pay otherwise than in
accordance with the provisions of this section made by or with any
person employed in or about the business of a shop shall be void.

(4) Any sum due to any person by virtue of this section may
irrespective of its amount be recovered summarily as a civil debt
notwithstanding the fact that proceedings for recovery of any penalty
have been or may be instituted in respect of any failure to make
such payment.

(5) In the case of any contravention of the provisions of this
section the occupier of the shop in respect of which the
contravention occurred shall, without prejudice to any civil
liability, be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds for
every person in respect of whom the contravention occurs, and, in
case any contravention of the provisions of this section has in
fact been committed by some agent of the occupier, that agent shall
be liable to be proceeded against for such contravention in the
same manner as if he were the occupier, and either together with,
or before or after the conviction of, the occupier, and shall be
liable on conviction to the same punishment as that to which the
occupier is liable.

(6) This section shall not apply in the case of a person employed
in or about the business of a shop who is, either before or after
the commencement of this Act, allowed holidays with pay under or by
virtue of the Wages Councils Act (Northern Ireland), 1945, or who
is before the commencement of this Act allowed holidays with pay
under or by virtue of any enactment repealed by the said Wages
Councils Act (Northern Ireland), 1945.

Ss.2123 rep. by 1966 c.26 (NI) s.82 sch.2. S.24 rep. by 1959 c.25
(NI) s.154(3) sch.5

Hours and conditions of employment of young persons.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 25

25.(1) The total number of hours worked in or about the business
of a shop by a young person exclusive of intervals allowed for
meals and rest, shall

(a)in the case of a young person who has attained the age of
sixteen years, not exceed forty-four in any week; and

(b)in the case of a young person who has not attained the age of
sixteen years, not exceed forty in any week.

(2) Every young person employed in or about the business of a shop
shall be allowed intervals for meals in accordance with the Fourth
Schedule to this Act.

(3) On at least one week day in each week, to be notified in
such form and manner as may be prescribed by regulations made by
the Ministry under this Act, a young person employed in or about
the business of a shop shall not be so employed after one o'clock
in the afternoon.

(4) A young person shall not be employed in or about the business
of a shop on a Sunday unless he receives in respect of his
employment on that Sunday a whole holiday on a week day either in
the week beginning on that Sunday or in the previous week, being a
week day other than that on which under the last preceding
sub-section he is not to be employed after one o'clock in the
afternoon.

(5) In determining for the purposes of this Act the number of
working hours for which a young person has in any week or period
of two or three consecutive weeks been employed in or about the
business of a shop, he shall be deemed to have been employed about
the business thereof during any time during which he was in that
week or period employed in or about the business of any other shop
or in a factory:

Provided that if in any proceedings against the occupier of a shop
in respect of a contravention of the provisions of this Part of
this Act relating to the employment of young persons, it is shown
that the contravention occurred only by reason of time during which
a young person was employed by another employer being deemed in
accordance with the provisions of this sub-section to be time during
which he was employed in or about the business of that shop, it
shall be a defence to prove that the occupier did not know and
could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that the young
person was employed for that time by the other employer.

(6) A young person who has to the knowledge of the occupier of a
shop been previously employed on any day in a factory, shall not
be employed on that day in or about the business of the shop for
a longer period than will, together with the time during which he
has been previously employed on that day in the factory, complete
the number of hours permitted by the Factories Act (Northern
Ireland), 1938.

(7) For the purposes of this section a young person shall be
deemed to be employed by the person for whom he works
notwithstanding that he receives no wages for his work.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 26
Young persons to be entitled to holidays with pay.

26. The provisions of section twenty of this Act relating to
holidays with pay shall apply to young persons as if references
therein to any person employed in or about the business of a shop
included references to any young person so employed.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 27
Power to regulate employment in spells.

27. If the Ministry is satisfied that it is necessary to make
provision for preventing the hours of employment of a young person
from being so divided into spells so as to deprive him of
reasonable opportunities for instruction and recreation, it may by
regulations made under this Act direct that, subject to such
exceptions and modifications as may be provided by the regulations,
the working hours of any young person shall (notwithstanding anything
in the definition of "working hours" contained in this Act) be
deemed, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, to include the
period from the time at which that person first begins on any day
to be employed about the business of a shop until the time at
which he last ceases on that day to be so employed, exclusive only

(a)of such intervals, whether for rest or meals or otherwise, as
exceed half-an-hour in duration; and

(b)of time allowed for attendance at such instructional courses, as
may be specified in the regulations.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 28
Restrictions on night employment.

28. A young person who is employed about the business of a shop
shall in every period of twenty-four hours between mid-day on one
day and mid-day on the next day be allowed an interval of at
least eleven consecutive hours which shall include the hours from
ten o'clock in the evening until six o'clock in the morning:

Provided that the said interval of eleven consecutive hours need not
include the hour between five and six o'clock in the morning in
the case of male persons between the ages of sixteen and eighteen
years who are employed during that hour in connection with the
collection or delivery of milk or bread or newspapers.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 29
Records and notices in relation to the employment of young persons.

29.(1) The occupier of a shop in which any young person is
employed shall, in the prescribed form and in the prescribed manner,
keep a record of the prescribed particulars as to that person,
including particulars of the hours worked by him, and of the
intervals allowed for rest and meals to him; ....

(2) The occupier of a shop in which any young person is employed
shall, in the prescribed form and in the prescribed manner, keep
exhibited and readily available to that young person, a notice
setting forth the number of hours in the week during which he may,
in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act, be
employed, and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(3) In the case of any contravention of the foregoing provisions of
this section, the occupier of the shop shall be liable to a fine
not exceeding five pounds for every day on which the contravention
occurs or continues.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 30
Application of provisions relating to employment of young persons.

30.(1) The provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the
employment of young persons shall, without prejudice to any other
provision of this Act, apply to every young person employed

(a)in connection with a business carried on at any such premises or
place, in carrying messages or running errands or in the collection
or delivery of goods, being employment wholly or mainly outside such
premises or place; or

(b)wholly or mainly in connection with any retail trade or business
(including the sale of programmes, catalogues and other similar
sales) carried on in a theatre;

Provided that such provisions shall in their application to young
persons employed wholly or mainly in connection with any retail
trade or business carried on in a theatre be subject to the
modification that, in the case of a young person who has attained
the age of sixteen years employed in a theatre where a performance
is taking place which begins before and ends after ten o'clock in
the evening, the interval of at least eleven consecutive hours
required by section twenty-eight of this Act need not include any
time between ten o'clock in the evening and the time at which a
performance ends.

(2) In any provision in this Part of this Act relating to the
employment of young persons references to a shop shall be construed
as including in relation to any retail trade or business carried on
in a theatre, a reference to such theatre and references to the
occupier of a shop shall be construed as including in relation to
such trade or business a reference to the owner of the theatre.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to authorise the employment
of any young person in any case where that employment is
prohibited, restricted or regulated under the provisions of any other
enactment for the time being in force.

Provisions as to trading elsewhere than in shops.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 31

31.(1) Subject as in this section provided, the provisions of this
Act shall extend to any place where or vehicle or stall from which
any retail trade or business is carried on as if that place were
a shop, and as if in relation to any such place, vehicle or stall
the person by whom or on whose behalf the retail trade or business
is carried on were the occupier of a shop:

Provided that

(a)any provisions of this Act which relate to obtaining the approval
or ascertaining the wishes of occupiers of shops in respect of
orders made under this Act shall extend only to shops;

(b)the provisions of sub-section (5) of section one of this Act and
the proviso to section six of this Act shall respectively have
effect as if there were included in the First and Second Schedules
to this Act the sale by fishermen of freshly caught fish (including
shell-fish), and the sale at a farm, smallholding, allotment or
similar place, of produce produced thereon;

Para.(c) rep. by 1966 c.26 (NI) s.82 sch.2

(d)any person carrying on or employed in the business of a
hairdresser or barber may at any time for the purpose of that
business attend any person

(i)in any place if such attendance is necessary by reason of the
bodily or mental infirmity of that person; or

(ii)in any hotel or club, if that person is resident therein.

(e)nothing in this section shall apply to the sale of newspapers or
to the holding of an auction sale of private effects in a private
dwelling-house.

(2) The Ministry may by regulations provide that no retail trade or
business shall be carried on at any place not being a shop or
from any vehicle or stall unless such place or vehicle or stall is
registered, in the manner prescribed by such regulations, with the
[district council or councils of the area] in which it is desired
to carry on such retail trade or business and such regulations may
provide for the payment to the [district council] of a fee not
exceeding [25p] in respect of each place or vehicle or stall
registered thereunder and may provide that any person who carries on
any retail trade or business in contravention thereof shall be
liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds and may contain such
further or other provisions as are necessary for or incidental to
the purposes aforesaid.

(3) References in this section to any vehicle or stall shall be
construed as including references to any vehicle whether
mechanically-propelled or otherwise, any tricycle or bicycle or any
moveable stall.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to penalise or prohibit
the sale of bread or milk from vehicles or stalls in any
[district] on the day fixed under section one of this Act as the
weekly half-holiday in that [district].

(5) Any restrictions imposed under or by virtue of this section in
respect of trading elsewhere than in shops shall be in addition to
and not in derogation of any other restrictions imposed under or by
virtue of any other enactment or any law, rule, order, regulation,
bye-law or custom.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 32
General provisions as to records and notices.

32. If any person with intent to deceive makes, or causes or
allows to be made, in any record or notice required to be kept or
given or exhibited under or by virtue of this Act an entry which
is to his knowledge false in any material particular, or wilfully
omits or causes or allows to be omitted from any such record or
notice an entry required to be made therein, he shall be liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine
not exceeding twenty pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 33
Application to Post Office business.

33.(1) Where Post Office business is carried on in any shop in
addition to any other business, this Act shall apply to that shop
subject to the following modifications:

(a)if the shop is a telegraph office the obligation to close the
shop for the serving of customers on the weekly half-holiday shall
not apply to the shop so far as relates to the transaction of
Post Office business thereat;

Para.(b) rep. by 1966 c.26 (NI) s.82 sch.2; 1969 c.48 s.141 sch.11
Pt.II

(c)nothing in this Act or in any order made under this Act shall
prevent the transaction of Post Office business in a shop after the
closing hour in any week day;

(d)notwithstanding anything in this Act a shop may be open on
Sunday for the transaction of Post Office business.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise any person
to carry on any retail trade or business other than Post Office
business during such times as it would not be lawful for him to
do so under the other provisions of this Act.

(3) Save as aforesaid, nothing in this Act shall apply to Post
Office business, or to any premises in which Post Office business
is transacted.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 34
Miscellaneous savings.

34.(1) Nothing in this Act shall prohibit the sale, despatch or
delivery of victuals, stores or other necessaries required by any
person for a ship or aircraft on her arrival at, or immediately
before her departure from, her port or aerodrome.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall apply to any fair lawfully held or
any bazaar or sale of work for charitable or other purposes from
which no private profit is derived or to any library at which the
business of lending books or periodicals is not carried on for
purposes of gain other than that of making profits for some
philanthropic or charitable object (including any religious or
educational object or for any club or institution which is not
itself carried on for purposes of gain).

(3) Nothing in this Act shall apply to the sale or delivery of
eggs to, or the collection of eggs by, a person licensed under the
Marketing of Eggs Acts (Northern Ireland), 1924 to 1936, to carry
on business as a wholesale dealer in eggs or as a retail dealer
in eggs, being a sale or delivery to or collection by such person
made in the course of his trade so licensed as aforesaid.

(4) The provisions of this Act, other than the provisions of
sub-sections (5) and (6) of section twenty-five of this Act, shall
not apply with respect to the employment of persons whose hours of
employment are regulated by or under the Factories Act (Northern
Ireland), 1938.

(5) Where any person carries on the business of a shop, or carries
on retail trade or business at any place not being a shop, on
Sunday in accordance with the provisions of this Act, he shall not
be deemed to commit an offence against any of the following
enactments, namely:

Para.(a) rep. by 1968 c.28 (NI) s.16 sch.4

(b)[the Sunday Observance Act (Ireland) 1695]

(6) This Act shall not apply to any sea-going ships.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 35
Powers and duties of district councils.

35.(1) It shall be the duty of every [district council] to enforce
within their [2district] the provisions of this Act and of the
orders made thereunder and for that purpose to institute and carry
on such proceedings in respect of contraventions of this Act and
orders made thereunder as may be necessary to secure the observance
thereof, and to appoint inspectors; and an inspector so appointed
shall, for the purpose of his powers and duties, have in relation
to shops all the powers conferred in relation to factories on
inspectors by section one hundred and twenty-nine of the Factories
Act (Northern Ireland), 1938, other than powers conferred under
paragraph (g) of sub-section (1) of the said section, and that
section shall apply accordingly:

Provided that in the application of the said section for the
purposes of this Act references in the said section to a factory
and to the Factories Act (Northern Ireland), 1938, shall respectively
be construed as references to a shop and to this Act and the
reference in paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of the said section
to section one hundred and two of the Factories Act (Northern
Ireland), 1938, shall be construed as a reference to Part II of
this Act.

Subs.(2)(3) rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/341

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 36
Provisions as to offences and penalties.

36.(1) In the case of any contravention of any of the provisions
of this Act or of any order or regulation made thereunder or in
the case of any breach of a condition imposed by any such order
or regulation, being a contravention or breach in respect of which
no penalty is provided by or under any other provision of this
Act, the occupier of the shop shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding

(a)where such contravention or breach arises under or by virtue of
any provision contained in Part II of this Act, ten pounds for
every person or young person in respect of whom the contravention
or breach occurs; and

(b)where such contravention or breach arises otherwise than under or
by virtue of any provision contained in Part II of this Act, in
the case of a first offence, five pounds, and in the case of a
second or subsequent offence, twenty pounds.

(2) Where any person is charged with keeping open a shop for the
serving of customers or with despatching or delivering goods in
contravention of this Act, it shall be a good defence to prove
that reasonable grounds existed for believing that the goods
supplied, despatched or delivered were required in the case of
illness or emergency and for this purpose it shall, unless the
contrary be proved, be assumed that the sale of any medicines,
medical or surgical appliances (including baby foods and feeding
appliances) is required in case of illness or emergency.

(3) Where an offence for which the occupier of a shop is liable
under this Act has in fact been committed by some manager, agent,
servant or other person, the manager, agent, servant or other person
shall be liable to the like penalty as if he were the occupier.

(4) Where any person is charged under or by virtue of this Act
with any offence other than an offence to which sub-section (5) of
section twenty of this Act relates, he shall be entitled upon
information duly laid by him to have any other person whom he
charges as the actual offender brought before the court at the time
appointed for hearing the charge; and, if, after the commission of
the offence has been proved, he proves to the satisfaction of the
court that he has used due diligence to enforce the execution of
the Act, and that the said other person has committed the offence
in question without his knowledge, consent or connivance, the said
other person shall be summarily convicted of such offence, and the
occupier shall be exempt from any fine.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 37
Prosecution of offences, recovery and application of fines.

37.(1) All offences under this Act shall be prosecuted and all
fines under this Act shall be recovered summarily in manner provided
by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts (Northern Ireland).

(2) In any proceedings under this Act it shall be sufficient in
the information to allege that the shop is a shop within the
meaning of this Act and to state the name of the ostensible
occupier of the shop or where the occupier is a firm the title of
the firm.

(3) The court shall in any proceedings under this Act, if required
by either party, cause notes of the evidence to be taken and
preserved.

Subs.(4) rep. by 1954 c.9 (NI) s.29 sch.7; subs.(5) rep. by SLR
1980

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 38
Special provisions as to evidence.

38.(1) If a person employed in or about the business of a shop is
found in a shop at any time at which work is going on in the
shop or when the shop is open for the serving of customers, except
during the intervals for meals or rest, he shall until the contrary
is proved be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have been
then employed in the shop:

Provided that this sub-section shall not apply to a shop in which
the only persons employed are members of the same family dwelling
there.

(2)Where in any proceedings under this Act with respect to a young
person it appears to the court that that young person is apparently
of or below the age alleged by the informant, it shall lie on the
defendant to prove that the young person is not of or below that
age.

Subs.(3) rep. by 1955 c.29 (NI) s.5 sch.3

(4) Any order made by a [district council] under this Act may be
proved by the production of a copy thereof certified to be a true
copy by the person purporting to be the clerk of the [district
council] by whom the order was made.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 39
Expenses of Ministry.

39. Any expenses incurred by the Ministry under this Act, including
the remuneration of any person holding a local inquiry under this
Act, shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Ministry of
Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 40
Power to make regulations.

40.(1) The Ministry may make regulations

(a)for prescribing anything which under this Act is to be
prescribed;

(b)as to the mode of ascertaining the opinion of occupiers of
shops;

(c)as to the conduct of local inquiries and matters incidental
thereto;

(d)as to the procedure for obtaining the revocation of a closing or
other order; and

(e)generally for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

(2) Any regulations made by the Ministry under this Act shall, as
soon as may be after they are made, be laid before each House of
Parliament. If either House of Parliament, within the statutory
period next after any such regulation has been laid before it
resolves that the regulation shall be annulled, the regulation shall,
after the date of the resolution, be void, but without prejudice to
the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making
of a new regulation.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 41
Interpretation.

41.(1) In this Act the following expressions shall, except where a
contrary intention appears, have the meanings hereby assigned to
them, that is to say:

"bank holiday" includes any public holiday or day of public
rejoicing or mourning;

"bread" includes fancy bread and pastries;

"contravention" in relation to any provision includes any failure to
comply with that provision;

"enactment" includes any Act and any rule, regulation, byelaw or
order made under any Act;

"factory" has the meaning assigned to it by section one hundred and
fifty-seven of the Factories Act (Northern Ireland), 1938;

Definition rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/341

"Ministry" has the meaning assigned to it by section five of this
Act;

"order" means an order made by a [district council] and confirmed
by the Ministry in accordance with the provisions of this Act and
includes a closing order so made and confirmed under Part I of
this Act;

"pharmaceutical chemist," "chemist and druggist," and "druggist"
respectively mean a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered
chemist and druggist and a registered druggist, as defined by the
Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Northern Ireland), 1925;

"prescribed" means prescribed by the Ministry by regulations made
under this Act;

"retail trade or business" includes the business of a barber or
hairdresser, the business of lending books and periodicals when
carried on for purposes of gain, retail sales by auction, the sale
of refreshments and, except when used in relation to Part I of
this Act, the sale (whether for consumption on or off the premises)
of intoxicating liquors, but, does not, unless otherwise provided,
include the sale of programmes and catalogues and other similar
sales at theatres and places of amusement;

"shop" includes

(a)any place or premises where any retail trade or business is
carried on;

(b)any wholesale shop and any warehouse occupied for the purposes of
trade by any person carrying on any retail trade or business; and

(c)any premises used as depots for the receipt of articles for
repair, cleaning, dyeing, washing or other treatment;

"statutory period" means ...

definition in 1954 c.33 (NI) s.41(2) substituted by 1979 NI 12
art.10

"theatre" includes any place used for the exhibition of pictures or
other optical effects by means of a cinematograph or other suitable
apparatus and any music hall or other similar place of
entertainment, and "performance" has a corresponding meaning;

"week" means the period between mid-night on Saturday night and
mid-night on the succeeding Saturday night;

"working hours" means the time during which the persons employed are
at the disposal of the employer, exclusive of any intervals allowed
for rest and meals; and "hours worked" has a corresponding meaning;

"year" means the period between mid-night on the last Saturday night
in the month of December and mid-night on the last Saturday night
in the next month of December;

"young person" means a person who has not attained the age of
eighteen years.

(2) For the purposes of this Act a person who works in or about
the business of a shop for the occupier thereof or in connection
with any retail trade or business for the person by whom it is
carried on, shall be deemed to be employed, notwithstanding that he
receives no remuneration or reward for his labour.

Subs.(3) rep. by 1954 c.33 (NI) s.48(1) sch.

SHOPS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 42
Short title and repeal.

42.(1) This Act may be cited as the Shops Act (Northern Ireland),
1946.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR (NI) 1952

(3) The Shops' Acts, 1912 and 1913, are hereby repealed:

Provided that any closing or other order made under those Acts and
in force at the time of the commencement of this Act shall be
deemed to have been made under the provisions of this Act and
shall continue in force until superseded or revoked by any order
made in accordance with the provisions of this Act, except in so
far as the first-mentioned order

(a)fixes any closing hour which is later than the corresponding hour
fixed by this Act; or

(b)authorises any sale after the closing hour fixed by this Act in
respect of such sale; or

(c)contains provisions inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

1. The sale after the hours prescribed by or under sub-sections
(1), (2), or (3) of section one of this Act of

(a)meals or refreshments (including fried fish and chips, table
waters, sweets, chocolates, sugar confectionery, and ice-cream), for
consumption on premises in which the sale of meals or refreshments
forms a substantial part of the business carried on therein, or (in
the case of meals or refreshments sold on a railway refreshment car
or on the premises of a railway or other transport undertaking) for
consumption on trains, buses or aircraft:

(i)for the purposes of this Schedule tobacco supplied at a meal for
immediate consumption shall be deemed to form part of a meal; and

(ii)in the case of canteens attached to and situated within or in
the immediate vicinity of any works, if persons are employed in
such works after the closing hour, and the canteen is kept open
only for the use of such persons, meals or refreshments may be
sold after the closing hour for consumption anywhere within the
works' premises; and

<(iii)subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph hereof nothing in this Schedule shall be deemed to authorise the sale between the hours of midnight and five o'clock in the morning of any meals or refreshments (including table waters, sweets, chocolates, sugar confectionery, and ice-cream) except in the case of meals or refreshments sold on a railway refreshment car or on the premises of a railway or other transport undertaking for consumption on trains, buses or aircraft or served in a residential hotel, boarding or lodging house or in a dance hall or cafe9 or other similar place on any night when a dance, banquet or other special function is held;

(b)newly cooked provisions (including fried fish and chips) and
cooked or partly cooked tripe to be consumed off the premises,
provided such sale takes place before midnight and after five
o'clock in the morning;

(c)tobacco, table waters or matches on licensed premises during the
hours during which intoxicating liquor is permitted by law to be
sold on the premises;

(d)tobacco, matches, table waters, sweets, chocolates, or other sugar
confectionery or ice-cream, at any time during the performance in
any theatre, cinema, music hall, or other similar place of
entertainment so long as the sale is to a bona fide member of the
audience and in a part of the building to which no other members
of the public have access;

(e)medicine or medical or surgical appliances (including baby food
and feeding appliances), so long as the shop is kept open only for
such time as is necessary for serving a customer who has sought
admission for the purpose of purchasing a specified article or
specified articles of this class;

(f)newspapers, periodicals and books from the bookstalls of railway
or other transport undertaking stations or depots;

(g)aircraft, motor, or cycle supplies or accessories to travellers
for immediate use;

(h) victuals, stores, or other necessaries required by any naval,
military or air force authority for His Majesty's forces or required
for any ship on her arrival at or immediately before her departure
from a port, so long as the shop is kept open only for such time
as is necessary for serving the customer.

2. The sale of milk, cream or bread on the weekly half-holiday.

1. The sale of

(a)meals or refreshments whether or not for consumption at the shop
at which they are sold, including the sale of fried fish and chips
at a fried fish and chip shop;

(b)newly cooked provisions (including fried fish and chips) and
cooked or partly cooked tripe;

(c)table waters, sweets, chocolates, sugar confectionery and ice-cream
(including wafers and edible containers);

(d)flowers, fruit and vegetables (including mushrooms) other than
tinned or bottled fruit or vegetables;

(e)milk and cream not including tinned or dried milk or cream, but
including clotted cream whether sold in tins or otherwise;

(f)medicines or medical or surgical appliances (including baby food
and feeding appliances), so long as the shop is kept open only for
such time as is necessary for serving a customer who has sought
admission for the purpose of purchasing a specified article or
articles of this class;

(g)aircraft, motor, or cycle supplies or accessories;

(h)tobacco and smokers' requisites;

(i)newspapers, periodicals and magazines;

(j)books and stationery from the bookstalls of railway or other
transport undertaking stations or depots;

(k)guide books, postcards, photographs, reproductions, photographic
films and plates, and souvenirs

(i)at any gallery, museum, garden, park or ancient monument under
the control of a public authority or university; or

(ii)at any other gallery or museum, or any place of natural beauty
or historic interest, or any zoological, botanical or horticultural
gardens, or aquarium, if and to the extent that the [district
council] certify that such sale is desirable in the interests of
the public; or

<(iii)in any passenger vessel within the meaning of Part II of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, while engaged in carrying passengers;

(l)photographs for passports;

<(m)requisites for any game or sport at any premises or place where that game or sport is played or carried on;

(n)fodder for horses, mules, ponies and donkeys at any farm,
stables, hotel or inn.

2. The transaction of the business carried on by a funeral
undertaker.

The sale of

(a)any articles required for the purposes of bathing or fishing;

(b)photographic requisites;

(c)toys, souvenirs and fancy goods;

(d)books, stationery, photographs, reproductions and postcards;

(e)any article of food.

Intervals for meals shall be arranged so as to secure that no
person shall be employed for more than five and a half hours
without an interval of at least twenty minutes being allowed during
the course thereof.

Without prejudice to the foregoing provision

(i)where the hours of employment include the hours from 11.30 a.m.
to 3 p.m., an interval of not less than three-quarters of an hour
shall be allowed between those hours for dinner; and

(ii)where the hours of employment include the hours from 4 p.m. to
7 p.m. an interval of not less than half-an-hour shall be allowed
between those hours for tea;