This is a leading case regarding the distinction between an "offer" and an "invitation to treat." It confirms that displaying goods in a shop window with a price ticket is not a legal offer to sell but merely an invitation for customers to make an offer to buy. It also illustrates the literal rule of statutory interpretation. 

• The Display: The defendant, James Charles Bell, displayed a "flick knife" (a knife with a blade that opens automatically) in his shop window with a ticket behind it reading "Ejector knife – 4s.".

• The Charge: A police officer charged Bell with "offering for sale" a flick knife, contrary to section 1(1) of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959.

• The Statute: The Act made it an offence to manufacture, sell, hire, or "offer for sale" such knives, but notably did not use the phrase "expose for sale".

• The Defense: Bell argued that under the law of contract, displaying an item in a window is an "invitation to treat," not an "offer for sale," and therefore he had not committed the specific offence charged.

• Does displaying a price-marked item in a shop window constitute an "offer for sale" within the meaning of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959?.

• Should the court infer a broader meaning of "offer" to fulfill the parliamentary intent of banning flick knives?.

The Queen's Bench Division dismissed the prosecutor's appeal. The court held that no offence had been committed because the knife had not been "offered for sale" in the legal sense. 

• Literal Interpretation: The court must interpret statutes according to the general law of the country. In contract law, displaying goods in a window is an invitation to treat, not an offer.

• Statutory Omission: Parliament knows the law and usually includes the phrase "expose for sale" (as seen in other acts like the Prices of Goods Act 1939) when it intends to cover window displays. Since this phrase was omitted from the 1959 Act, the court cannot "fill in the gaps" to correct a legislative oversight.

• Legal Meaning Prevails: Although laypeople might consider a window display to be an offer, the legal definition must prevail in the absence of a specific statutory definition extending the meaning.