Early morning alcohol restriction orders to come into force soon!

The Crime and Security Act 2010 has received Royal Assent and is likely to take effect soon.

Once in place the new powers will allow for the restriction of sales and supply of alcohol between 3am and 6am regardless of your current premises licence, club premises certificates and temporary event notices.

Your licensing authority will have the power to make this early morning Alcohol Restriction Order. However there are procedures which must be undertaken which include advertising the proposed Order and holding a hearing to consider any relevant representation – in other words, if your premises are affected you are able to get your objections heard.

An Order may apply to every day of the week or only on particular days; the whole or part of a licensing authority’s area; for a limited or unlimited period of time.

The provisions will not come into force until the Secretary of State lays the necessary Orders. However it would now appear that a premises that has been well managed, operates without any cause for concern, has the appropriate personal licence holder and designated premises supervisor can now be restricted from opening in the early hours of the morning because of these Orders contrary to, in my opinion, a fundamental aim of The Licensing Act 2003, which was to introduce a better, more appropriate regulation to give business greater freedom and flexibility to meet the customers’ needs.

It is my opinion there are enough provisions under the Licensing Act 2003 to safeguard the public where a licence or certificate holder undermines any of the four licensing objectives.

The Licensing Act should be part of a broader strategy to achieve a better management of the night time economy and a better balance between the rights and responsibilities of everyone living and working in each community. To impose a blanket restriction retrospectively and/or in the future in relation to a particular premises or area should be wrong.

David Dadds, Barrister
Solicitor-Advocate (All Higher Courts)