This is a leading case on the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 section 24(1), where Tesco relied upon the defence of the 'act or omission of another person' i.e. their store manager, to show that they had taken all reasonable precautions and all due diligence.
Tesco was offering a discount on washing powder which was advertised on posters displayed in stores. Once they ran out of the lower priced product the stores began to replace it with the regularly priced stock. The manager failed to take the signs down and a customer was charged at the higher price. Tesco was charged under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 for falsely advertising the price of washing powder. In its defence Tesco argued that the company had taken all reasonable precautions and all due diligence, and that the conduct of the manager could not attach liability to the corporation.
Judgmentedit
The House of Lords accepted the defence and found that the manager was not a part of the "directing mind" of the corporation and therefore his conduct was not attributable to the corporation. The corporation had done all it could to enforce the rules regarding advertising.
Lord Reid held that, in order for liability to attach to the actions of a person, it must be the case that "The person who acts is not speaking or acting for the company. He is acting as the company and his mind which directs his acts is the mind of the company. If it is a guilty mind then that guilt is the guilt of the company."
In the House of Lords Tesco was successful with their defence showing that,
a store manager was classed as 'another person', and,
a system of delegating responsibility to that person was performance of due diligence, not avoidance of it
The store manager was not the directing mind and will of the company - the company had done all it could to avoid committing an offence and the offence was the fault of another person (an employee). The company was acquitted.
External linksedit
Full text of house of lords decision from BAILII.org
tesco, supermarkets, nattrass, 1971, ukhl, leading, decision, house, lords, directing, mind, theory, corporate, liability, courthouse, lordsfull, case, nametesco, supermarkets, limited, nattrasscitation, 1971, ukhl, 1972, 153court, membershipjudge, sittinglord. Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass 1971 UKHL 1 is a leading decision of the House of Lords on the directing mind theory of corporate liability Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v NattrassCourtHouse of LordsFull case nameTesco Supermarkets Limited v NattrassCitation s 1971 UKHL 1 1972 AC 153Court membershipJudge s sittingLord Reid Lord Morris of Borth y Gest Viscount Dilhorne Lord Pearson Lord DiplockKeywordsCorporate liability This is a leading case on the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 section 24 1 where Tesco relied upon the defence of the act or omission of another person i e their store manager to show that they had taken all reasonable precautions and all due diligence Contents 1 Facts 2 Judgment 3 External links 4 See alsoFacts editTesco was offering a discount on washing powder which was advertised on posters displayed in stores Once they ran out of the lower priced product the stores began to replace it with the regularly priced stock The manager failed to take the signs down and a customer was charged at the higher price Tesco was charged under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 for falsely advertising the price of washing powder In its defence Tesco argued that the company had taken all reasonable precautions and all due diligence and that the conduct of the manager could not attach liability to the corporation Judgment editThe House of Lords accepted the defence and found that the manager was not a part of the directing mind of the corporation and therefore his conduct was not attributable to the corporation The corporation had done all it could to enforce the rules regarding advertising Lord Reid held that in order for liability to attach to the actions of a person it must be the case that The person who acts is not speaking or acting for the company He is acting as the company and his mind which directs his acts is the mind of the company If it is a guilty mind then that guilt is the guilt of the company In the House of Lords Tesco was successful with their defence showing that a store manager was classed as another person and a system of delegating responsibility to that person was performance of due diligence not avoidance of it The store manager was not the directing mind and will of the company the company had done all it could to avoid committing an offence and the offence was the fault of another person an employee The company was acquitted External links editFull text of house of lords decision from BAILII orgSee also editWard v Tesco Stores Ltd Criticism of Tesco nbsp This case law article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass amp oldid 1220510010, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
