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Defences.
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22.—(1) In any proceedings for an offence under section 2 of the Principal Act involving a false trade description or an offence under this Act it shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, be a defence for the person charged to prove—
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(a) that the commission of the offence was due to a mistake or the reliance on information supplied to him or to the act or default of another person, an accident or some other cause beyond his control; and
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(b) that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by himself or any other person under his control.
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(2) If in any case the defence provided by subsection (1) of this section involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, not less than 7 clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his possession.
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(3) In any proceedings for an offence under section 2 (2) of the Principal Act in relation to goods to which a false trade description is applied it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the goods did not conform to the description or that the description had been applied to the goods.
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(4) In proceedings for an offence under section 2 of the Principal Act involving a false trade description or an offence under this Act committed by the publication of an advertisement it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he is a person whose business it is to publish or arrange for the publication of advertisements and that he received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business and did not know and had no reason to suspect that its publication would amount to an offence under the Principal Act or this Act.
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(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under section 2 (2) of the Principal Act in relation to any goods, proof—
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(a) that he published a notice indicating—
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(i) that he did not apply the trade description to which the offence relates to the goods,
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(ii) that he did not know whether the description was true or false, and
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(iii) that purchasers should disregard it, or
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(b) that he disclaimed by other means responsibility for the description,
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shall not be a compliance with subsection (1) (b) of this section where there is not proof that the person had reasonable grounds for believing that the trade description might be false and that it was not reasonably possible for him having regard to the circumstances to determine whether the trade description was true or false, but where proof to the satisfaction of the court concerned is given of all the matters referred to in this subsection, it shall be for the court to determine whether, in all the circumstances, such proof is a compliance with the said subsection (1) (b).
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