A Self-service chemist’s shop

Problem 3: A self-service chemist’s shop had a checkout at the exit. Dangerous poisons and drugs, which by statute could not be sold except under the direct supervision of a qualified pharmacist, were kept separate in a special area. Customers were able to select the articles they wanted to purchase and pay the cashier for them at the exit. A registered pharmacist supervised each transaction at the exit and the pharmacist was entitled to refuse goods to any customer.

The shop was prosecuted for selling poisons without the sale being supervised by a pharmacist. The prosecution depended on where the sale took place – did the sale take place at the shelf or at the cashier? El (‘1 Key fact: the defendant was selling drugs at a self-service check out, where customers could select their items and then purchase them at the register which was supervised by a registered pharmacist Relevant issues: are the goods on the shelf an offer or simply an invitation to treat?

Key legal principles: I Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemist (Southern) Ltd Application: the display of goods is only an invitation to treat.

The customer bringing the goods to the register is an offer that the pharmacist can either accept or reject, meaning they are supervising the sale of drugs Tentative conclusion: the sale took place at the cashier, as it is where the exchange of money for goods occurred. The products placed on the shelf were merely an invitation to treat, and the customer has no obligation to complete the sale thus the Chemist’s shop did not breach the pharmacy and poisons act 1933