Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts

PAWNBROKERS ACT 1902 - SECT 12

    (1)     This section applies if a person—

        (a)     produces the duplicate for a pawned article to the licensed pawnbroker who gave the duplicate; and

        (b)     claims to be the owner or authorised by the owner; and

        (c)     asks to redeem the article.

    (2)     The person is taken to be the owner of the article, or authorised by the owner and entitled to redeem the article.

    (3)     However, subsection (2) does not apply if—

        (a)     the pawnbroker has notice from the real owner that the duplicate was lost or stolen; or

        (b)     the pawnbroker reasonably believes that the article was stolen from the real owner.

    (4)     If the pawnbroker refuses to give the article to the person mentioned in subsection (1), the pawnbroker must—

        (a)     tell a police officer immediately about the refusal and the reasons for it; and

        (b)     give the officer the person's name and home address or a description of the person.

    (5)     A licensed pawnbroker must not, without reasonable excuse, contravene subsection (4).

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.