Licensing and Registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

PART 1 — LICENSING

Closure of licensed premises

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• (1) After Part 4 of the Licensing Order insert the following Part—

(69A) (1) Where there is or is expected to be disorder in any petty sessions district, a court of summary jurisdiction acting for the district may make an order requiring licensed premises which are situated at or near the place of the disorder or expected disorder to be closed for a period, not exceeding 24 hours, specified in the order. (2) A court of summary jurisdiction may make an order under this Article only on the application of a police officer who is of the rank of superintendent or above. (3) A court of summary jurisdiction may not make such an order unless it is satisfied that it is necessary to prevent disorder. (4) Where an order is made under this Article, the holder of a licence or the licence holder's servant or agent shall be guilty of an offence if that person knowingly keeps any licensed premises to which the order relates open, or allows any such premises to be kept open, during the period of the order and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. (5) A constable may use such force as may be necessary for the purpose of closing premises ordered to be closed under this Article. (69B) (1) A senior police officer may make a closure order in relation to any licensed premises if that officer reasonably believes that there is disorder on, or in the vicinity of and related to, the premises and their closure is necessary in the interests of public safety. (2) A closure order is an order under this Article requiring licensed premises to be closed for a period not exceeding 24 hours beginning with the coming into force of the order. (3) In determining whether to make a closure order in respect of any premises, the senior police officer must have regard, in particular, to the conduct of the holder of the licence and the licence holder's servant or agent in relation to the disorder or nuisance. (4) A closure order must— (a) specify the premises to which it relates; (b) specify the period for which the premises are to be closed; (c) specify the grounds on which it is made; and (d) state the effect of Articles 69C to 69G. (5) A closure order in respect of any licensed premises comes into force at the time a constable gives notice of it to the holder of the licence or the licence holder's servant or agent. (6) The holder of a licence or the licence holder's servant or agent shall be guilty of an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person permits licensed premises to be open in contravention of a closure order or any extension of it and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both. (69C) (1) Where, before the end of the period for which licensed premises are to be closed under a closure order or any extension of it (the “closure period”), the responsible senior police officer reasonably believes that— (a) a relevant court of summary jurisdiction will not have determined whether to exercise its powers under Article 69F(2) in respect of the closure order and any extension of it or the premises concerned, by the end of the closure period, and (b) closure is necessary in the interests of public safety because of disorder on, or in the vicinity of and related to, the premises, that officer may extend the closure period for a further period not exceeding 24 hours beginning with the end of the previous closure period. (2) An extension in relation to any licensed premises comes into force when a constable gives notice of it to the holder of the licence or the licence holder's servant or agent. (3) But the extension does not come into force unless the notice is given before the end of the previous closure period. (69D) (1) The responsible senior police officer may cancel a closure order and any extension of it at any time— (a) after the making of the order, but (b) before a relevant court of summary jurisdiction has determined whether to exercise its powers under Article 69F(2) in respect of the order and any extension of it or the premises concerned. (2) The responsible senior police officer must cancel a closure order and any extension of it if that officer does not reasonably believe that closure is necessary in the interests of public safety because of disorder on, or in the vicinity of and related to, the premises. (3) Where a closure order and any extension of it are cancelled under this Article, the responsible senior police officer must, as soon as reasonably practicable, give notice of the cancellation to the holder of the licence or the licence holder's servant or agent. (69E) The responsible senior police officer must, as soon as reasonably practicable after a closure order comes into force in respect of any licensed premises, apply to a relevant court of summary jurisdiction for it to consider the order and any extension of it. (69F) (1) A relevant court of summary jurisdiction must as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving an application under Article 69E— (a) hold a hearing to consider whether it is appropriate to exercise any of the court's powers under paragraph (2) in relation to the closure order or any extension of it or the premises concerned; and (b) determine whether to exercise any of those powers. (2) The relevant court of summary jurisdiction may— (a) revoke the closure order and any extension of it; (b) order the premises to remain, or to be, closed for such period not exceeding 28 days as the court may order; (c) where an order under Article 44 has been made in respect of the premises— (i) revoke the order; (ii) modify the order, or in relation to the order, the hours mentioned in Article 44(2); or (iii) make the continuance of the order subject to such terms and conditions as the court thinks fit; (d) where an occasional licence has been granted in respect of the premises— (i) by order revoke that licence; (ii) by order revoke any other occasional licences granted in respect of those premises; (iii) order that the premises specified in the occasional licence shall not be premises for which an occasional licence may be granted. (3) In determining whether the premises will be, or will remain, closed, the relevant court of summary jurisdiction must— (a) consider whether closure is necessary in the interests of public safety because of disorder or likely disorder on, or in the vicinity of and related to, the premises; and (b) hear representations, if any, from the holder of the licence. (4) The relevant court of summary jurisdiction must notify the district commander for the police district in which the premises are situated of any decision it makes under this Article. (5) The holder of a licence or the licence holder's servant or agent shall be guilty of an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person permits licensed premises to be open in contravention of an order under paragraph (2)(b) and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both. (69G) (1) Any person aggrieved by a decision of a court of summary jurisdiction under Article 69F may, within 21 days from the day the decision is made, appeal against the decision to the county court in accordance with magistrates' court rules. (2) When an order is made under Article 69F(2)(b) to (d), the order shall not have effect from the time a person brings an appeal under paragraph (1) against the making of the order until the appeal is abandoned or determined. (69H) A constable may use such force as may be necessary for the purposes of closing premises in compliance with a closure order. (69I) (1) A constable is not liable for relevant damages in respect of any act or omission of that constable in the performance or purported performance of that constable's functions in relation to a closure order or any extension of it. (2) The Chief Constable is not liable for relevant damages in respect of any act or omission of a constable under the Chief Constable's direction or control in the performance or purported performance of a function of that constable in relation to a closure order or any extension of it. (3) But neither paragraph (1) nor (2) applies— (a) if the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith; or (b) so as to prevent an award of damages in respect of an act or omission on the grounds that the act or omission was unlawful as a result of section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (incompatibility of act or omission with Convention rights). (4) This Article does not affect any other exemption from liability for damages (whether at common law or otherwise). (5) In this Article, “relevant damages” means damages awarded in proceedings for judicial review, the tort of negligence or misfeasance in public office. (69J) (1) This Article has effect for the purposes of this Part. (2) Licensed premises are open if a person who is not within paragraph (3) enters the premises and that person consumes, buys or is otherwise supplied with food or intoxicating liquor. (3) A person is within this paragraph if the person is— (a) the holder of the licence or the licence holder's servant or agent; (b) a person who usually lives at the premises; or (c) a member of the family of a person within sub-paragraph (a) or (b). (4) The following expressions have the meanings given— - “closure order” has the meaning given in Article 69B(2); - “extension”, in relation to a closure order, means an extension of the order under Article 69C; - “relevant court of summary jurisdiction”, in relation to any licensed premises, means a court of summary jurisdiction acting for the petty sessions district in which the premises are situated; - “responsible senior police officer”, in relation to a closure order, means— 1. the senior police officer who made the order, or 2. if another senior police officer is designated for the purpose by the district commander for the police district in which the premises are situated, that other officer; - “senior police officer” means a police officer of, or above, the rank of inspector.

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• (2) In Article 2(2) of the Licensing Order—

• (a) in the definition of “licence”, after “65” insert “ , 69A to 69J ”;

• (b) in the definition of “licensed premises”, after “58 to 65” insert “ , 69A to 69J ”.

• (3) Omit Article 49 of the Licensing Order (power to vary hours in certain circumstances).

Penalty points

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• (1) Insert the following Articles after Article 71 of the Licensing Order—

(71A) (1) Where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in column 1 of Schedule 10A (the general nature of which offence is indicated in column 2) then, subject to the following provisions of this Article, the number of penalty points to be attributed to the offence is a number within the range of numbers shown in relation to the offence in column 3 of Schedule 10A (or if an order is made under paragraph (5) substituting a number for a range, the number shown in relation to that offence). (2) Where the holder of a licence is convicted (whether on the same occasion or not) of 2 or more offences committed on the same occasion, the total number of penalty points to be attributed to them is the number or highest number that would be attributed on a conviction of one of them (so that if the convictions are on different occasions the number of penalty points to be attributed to the offences on the later occasion or occasions shall be restricted accordingly). (3) In a case where (apart from this paragraph) paragraph (2) would apply to 2 or more offences, the court may if it thinks fit determine that that paragraph shall not apply to the offences (or, where 3 or more offences are concerned, to any one or more of them). (4) Where a court makes such a determination it must state the reasons for the determination in the order of the court. (5) The Department may, by order subject to affirmative resolution, amend column 3 of Schedule 10A (by substituting one range of numbers for another, a number for a range, or a range for a number). (71B) (1) Where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in column 1 of Schedule 10A, the court must order there to be endorsed on the licence particulars of the conviction and also particulars of the offence, including the date when it was committed. (2) Where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in column 1 of Schedule 10A— (a) subject to paragraph (3), where the provision is one specified in Part 1 of Schedule 10A, the court may order there to be endorsed on the licence the penalty points to be attributed to the offence; (b) subject to paragraph (4), where the provision is one specified in Part 2 of Schedule 10A, the court must order there to be endorsed on the licence the penalty points to be attributed to the offence unless for special reasons the court thinks fit not to do so; (c) where the provision is one specified in Part 3 of Schedule 10A, the court must order there to be endorsed on the licence the penalty points to be attributed to the offence. (3) Where the holder of a licence who has been convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in Part 1 of Schedule 10A (“the first offence”) is convicted of an offence under the same provision of this Order committed less than 3 years after the first offence was committed, the court must order the penalty points to be attributed to the offence to be endorsed on the licence. (4) Where the holder of a licence who has been convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in Part 2 of Schedule 10A (“the first offence”) is convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in that Part of that Schedule committed less than 3 years after the first offence was committed, the court must order the penalty points to be attributed to the offence to be endorsed on the licence. (5) A court which orders the endorsement of a licence under this Article must order the holder of the licence to deliver it to the clerk of the court within a period specified in the order and if the holder of the licence contravenes the order that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or to both. (71C) (1) Where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under a provision of this Order specified in column 1 of Schedule 10A, the penalty points to be taken into account on that occasion are (subject to paragraphs (2) and (7))— (a) any that are to be attributed to the offence or offences in respect of which the holder of the licence is convicted; and (b) any that were on a previous occasion ordered to be endorsed on the licence; and where the penalty points so taken into account number 10 or more, the court must, by order, suspend the licence. (2) If any of the offences was committed more than 3 years before another, the penalty in respect of that offence shall not be added to those in respect of the other. (3) The period for which a licence is suspended under paragraph (1) shall not be less than 1 week or more than 3 months. (4) The suspension of a licence under paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed by the court. (5) Article 72(5) applies where a court suspends a licence under paragraph (1) as it applies where a court suspends a licence under that Article. (6) A licence may be suspended under paragraph (1) for any period notwithstanding that it is due to expire before the commencement of, or during, that period. (7) After the suspension of a licence under paragraph (1), none of the penalty points taken into account on making the order under paragraph (1) may be taken into account on any other occasion.

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• (2) After Schedule 10 to the Licensing Order insert as Schedule 10A the Schedule set out in Schedule 1.

• (3) In Article 73 of the Licensing Order (suspension of licences on conviction of certain offences), omit—

• (a) paragraph (1)(a);

• (b) in paragraph (2)(a)(i), the words from “other than an offence” to “that sub-paragraph,”; and

• (c) paragraph (3).

Proof of age

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• (1) In Article 58 of the Licensing Order (young persons prohibited from certain premises) after paragraph (11) insert—

(11A) Without prejudice to any other means of proving the exercise of all due diligence, for the purposes of paragraph (11) the holder of the licence or his servant or agent is to be treated as having exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of an offence if— (a) the holder of the licence or his servant or agent was shown any of the documents specified in paragraph (11B); and (b) that document would have convinced a reasonable person. (11B) The documents referred to in paragraph (11A)(a) are any document purporting to be— (a) a passport; (b) a photocard driving licence; (c) an electoral identity card; (d) a photographic identity card of a type approved by the British Retail Consortium for the purposes of its Proof of Age Scheme; or (e) such other document, or a document of such other description, as may be prescribed by regulations.

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• (2) In Article 60 of the Licensing Order (sale, etc., of intoxicating liquor to young persons) after paragraph (7) insert—

(7A) Without prejudice to any other means of proving the exercise of all due diligence, for the purposes of paragraph (7) the holder of the licence or his servant or agent is to be treated as having exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of an offence if— (a) the holder of the licence or his servant or agent was shown any of the documents specified in paragraph (7B); and (b) that document would have convinced a reasonable person. (7B) The documents referred to in paragraph (7A)(a) are any document purporting to be— (a) a passport; (b) a photocard driving licence; (c) an electoral identity card; (d) a photographic identity card of a type approved by the British Retail Consortium for the purposes of its Proof of Age Scheme; or (e) such other document, or a document of such other description, as may be prescribed by regulations.

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• (3) After Article 60A of the Licensing Order insert the following Article—