Appearance and plea by corporation

(1) Where a corporation is charged with an offence under this Act, such corporation may appear and plead to the charge by its representative, by entering a plea in writing; and, if either the corporation does not appear by its representative, or though it does so appear, fails to enter any plea, the court shall cause a plea of not guilty to be recorded and the trial shall proceed accordingly. (2) In this section the expression “representative”, in relation to a corporation, means a person duly appointed by the corporation to represent it for the purpose of doing any act or thing which the representative of a corporation is by this section authorised to do, but a person so appointed shall not, by virtue only of being so appointed, be qualified to act on behalf of the corporation before any court for any other purpose. (3) A representative for the purposes of this section need not be appointed under the seal of the corporation, and a statement 46 in writing purporting to be signed by a managing director of the corporation, or by any person (by whatever name called) having, or being one of the persons having the management of the affairs of the corporation, to the effect that the person named in the statement has been appointed as the representative of the corporation for the purposes of this section shall be admissible without further proof as prima facie evidence that that person has been so appointed.