Taxi Driver Online

Nothing to do with Taxi law but here's some interesting information on the new licensing laws which recently came into effect.

MAGISTRATES' COURT PRACTICE

24 September 2003

TITLE: The Licensing Act 2003: A Beginner's Guide, Part I

AUTHOR: Andrew Mimmack

LEGISLATION REFERRED TO:
Licensing Act 2003

Introduction

The Licensing Act 2003 has had Royal Assent for several months now, and at the time of writing, two commencement orders had been signed, albeit with limited effect. It is clear, however, that the countdown will start in earnest soon after this issue is printed, and it is important that magistrates' courts practitioners who have an interest in liquor licensing should be aware at least of the main features of the Act and how it will operate in future. This is the first in a short series of notes will set out the structure of the Act and attempt to interpret it, and any subordinate legislation that is issued. The magistrates' courts will continue to be involved in licensing to a significant extent even when the Act is fully implemented, so it is probably premature for court libraries to throw out their copies of Paterson's Licensing Acts just yet. In particular, appeals against local authority decisions will be to the magistrates' court, while the criminal jurisdiction of the court includes extensive powers to forfeit or suspend personal licences. The courts also continue to be involved in the emergency closure of licensed premises by the police in the face of actual or threatened public disorder.

The Scheme of the Act

It is fairly well known that the Act finally divests the magistrates' courts of the last significant vestige of their administrative functions hanging over from the 19th century. From the implementation of the Act the licensing authority in almost all parts of the country will be the local authority - the unitary authority where there is one, and the district council or its equivalent where the shire system still exists. I say "almost" because the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, through their sub-treasurer and under-treasurer, retain their historic functions in this field, even though the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge has lost his.

The Act does not, however, just deal with liquor licensing. It brings into one legislative structure the regulation of alcohol through retail sales and supply in clubs, entertainment (including theatres, music, dancing and the like) and, for the first time outside London, late night refreshment. These are collectively described as "licensable activities".

Section 4 provides, for the first time, a set of licensing objectives, to which all licensing authorities will work in future. These are described in s 4(2) as being:

* the prevention of crime and disorder;

* public safety;

* the prevention of public nuisance; and

* the protection of children from harm.

Authorities must also have regard to their own licensing statement and any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under s 182. The guidance is already available in draft form on the DCMS web site, and should have been issued in its final form by the time this note is published.

The licensing statement is required under s 5 of the Act to be drawn up in consultation with the police, the fire authority, the licensed trade and local residents.

The functions of the authority will be carried out by a licensing committee which can sit in sub-committees of three. They can also delegate their functions to an officer, subject to restrictions in s 10(4) which effectively prohibit anything contentious being dealt with in this way. The likelihood is, if the s 182 guidance comes into force in the form under which it is out for consultation, that the vast majority of applications will be dealt with administratively by designated officials of the authority.

Unlike the regime under the 1964 Act, the new arrangements provide for two types of licence, the premises licence, which authorises the use of premises for one or more licensable activities (see s 11), and the personal licence - governed by Part 6 of the Act - which authorise an individual to supply alcohol or authorise its supply, in accordance with a premises licence. A personal licence is not necessary for the provision of entertainment or late night refreshment, or for the operation of a club.

Club registration is replaced by a system of club premises certificates - dealt with by Part 4 of the Act.

Occasional licences and occasional permissions live on in the form of "permitted temporary activity" - governed by temporary event notices issued under s 100, and available for the range of licensable activities. Significant new limits are, however, introduced as to the number of times an individual can apply, or on which individual premises can be used.

Part 7 of the Act creates a range of offences, including "unauthorised licensable activities" and revising the law relating to drunkenness on licensed premises, and - more significantly - to children and alcohol. The intention is that this area of the law at least should be made considerably more comprehensible and enforceable than has been the case so far.

Part 8 re-enacts and amends the system of closure of premises by the police to prevent or suppress disorder and nuisance.

Perhaps the most significant section of the Act in the long term for the magistrates' courts will be Schedule 5 which preserves the magistrates' hands-on involvement in the system by making the court the appeal tribunal relating to decisions of the local authority in relation to licensed premises of all types. In a sense, this is nothing new, as the courts have exercised appellate functions in relation to a number of local government decisions, notably in respect of hackney carriage licences, for many years. Licensing appeals, however, are likely to be much higher profile, and in some cases extremely sensitive. It may be that in many areas they will be pretty much a non-event, but the London courts, and those covering holiday and inner city areas with a high concentration of licensed premises, are likely to find themselves spending a considerable amount of time dealing with these cases, at least in the short term.

Overall, the statute is an interesting mixture of de-regulation and increased regulation. Licensees and legal practitioners will welcome the reduced need to attend before lengthy licensing sessions to make routine and uncontroversial applications. On the other hand, the requirement on all licence operators to produce and, where necessary, update a detailed operating plan for the premises, may not be an entirely welcome development with some sections of the trade. Equally, there will be criticism of the apparent extension of the regulatory regime to a much wider range of activities than has hitherto been the case. A reading of the exemptions in Part 2 of Schedule 1 conjures up visions of interesting arguments as to whether a display amounts to "morris dancing or any dancing of a similar nature".

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