Comments To The Director-general Of The Department Of Trade And Industry About The Proposed National Liquor Policy

May 10 2017

It is unnecessary to propose that liability for manufacturers and suppliers be introduced to ensure they take responsibility not to supply unlicensed traders. This is already prohibited.

The Policy proposes that liability should be placed on the manufacturer or supplier if its products are found in unlicensed outlets, and it would suffice for liability that the goods are merely “found” in an unlicensed outlet. If the proposal is only that the supplier is guilty if it sold knowing that its customer will store the liquor in unregistered premises, this already applies under common law and a supplier providing the customer with the means to commit the offence will be criminally liable as an accomplice. To go further and make a supplier liable for liquor found in unregistered premises even when it did not know that the liquor would be stored in unregistered premises would make the supplier liable without being at fault and would breach the presumption of innocence.