Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982

Part I — Licensing—General Provisions

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This Part of this Act shall have effect with respect to the licensing of the activities for which licences are required under Part II of this Act.

Postponement of repeal of Burgh Police (Scotland) Acts and local statutory provisions.

2

• (1) For the administration of licensing in relation to the activities in connection with which licences are required under Part II of this Act there shall be a licensing authority for the area of each local authority.

• (2) The licensing authority shall be the local authoritywithin whose area the activity is, or is to be, carried on.

• (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) above, a local authorityshall not be exempt from any requirement to have a licence or any other obligation under this Part or Part II of this Act and a licensing authority shall have power to entertain and dispose of an application by a local authority for a licence or in respect of a licence held by them.

Discharge of functions of licensing authorities

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• (1) For the purpose of the discharge of their functions under this Part of this Act, every licensing authority must—

• (a) consider each relevant application made to them within the period of 3 months beginning with the relevant date, and

• (b) subject to the following provisions of this section, reach a final decision on the application within the period of 6 months beginning with the end of the 3 month period referred to in paragraph (a).

• (1A) In subsection (1) “the relevant date” means—

• (a) the date on which the application is made, or

• (b) if, on that date, the licensing authority is prevented from considering the application by paragraph 2(2) or 3(2) of Schedule 33 to the Finance Act 2021 (which contain requirements to be complied with before applications may be considered), the date on which the licensing authority ceases to be so prevented.

• (2) On summary application by the licensing authority within the 6 month period referred to in subsection (1) above, the sheriff may, if it appears to him that there is good reason to do so, extend that period as he thinks fit.

• (3) The applicant shall be entitled to be a party to a summary application under subsection (2) above.

• (4) Where the licensing authority have failed to reach a final decision on the application before the expiry of—

• (a) the 6 month period referred to in subsection (1) above, or

• (b) such further period as the sheriff may have specified on application under subsection (2) above,

the licence ... shall be deemed to have been granted , renewed or, as the case may be, varied ... on the date of such expiry ....

• (4A) A licence deemed to have been granted or renewed under subsection (4) is—

• (a) in the case of a temporary licence, to remain in force for the duration of the period sought in the application (up to a maximum period of 6 weeks), or

• (b) in any other case, to remain in force for the period of one year.

• (4B) A variation of the terms of a licence deemed to have been granted under subsection (4) is to have effect for the remaining period of the licence.

• (4C) Subsections (4) and (4B) do not affect—

• (a) the powers of revocation under section 7(6)(a),

• (b) paragraph 8(5) of Schedule 1 (which relates to renewals of existing licences),

• (c) the powers of variation under paragraph 10 of that Schedule, or

• (d) the powers of suspension and revocation under paragraphs 11 and 12 of that Schedule.

• (5A) The deemed grant, renewal or variation of the terms of a licence under subsection (4) is, for the purposes of Schedule 1, to be treated as a decision of the licensing authority to grant, renew or vary the terms of a licence.

• (5B) For the purposes of this section, a “relevant application” is an application under paragraph 1, 7 or 10 of Schedule 1.

Further provisions as to licensing

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Schedule 1 to this Act (which contains further provisions as to licensing and regulation in relation to the activities in connection with which licences are required under Part II of this Act) shall have effect.

Rights of entry and inspection

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• (1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act, an authorised officer of the licensing authority , an authorised civilian employee ... or a constable may, for the purposes specified in subsection (2) below, at any reasonable time—

• (a) enter and inspect any premises, vehicle or vessel used or to be used for an activity in relation to which a licence is in force or has been applied for under this Act;

• (b) require production of and inspect any equipment, plant, apparatus or stock-in-trade which is or is to be kept or used in connection with any such activity;

• (c) require production of and inspect any records or other documents required by or under this Part or Part II of this Act to be kept by the holder of the licence and take copies of or extracts from any such record or document.

• (2) The purposes referred to in subsection (1) above are—

• (a) where a licence is in force—

• (i) seeing whether the terms of the licence are being complied with and, if they are not, obtaining information in respect of such non-compliance;

• (ii) obtaining information relevant to the question whether the terms of the licence should be varied under paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to this Act or whether the licence should be renewed or, under paragraph 11 or 12 of that Schedule, suspended or revoked ; or

• (b) where the grant of a licence has been applied for, obtaining information relevant to the question whether the application should be granted.

• (3) Any person who—

• (a) being a person for the time being in charge of any premises, vehicle or vessel, fails without reasonable excuse to permit a constable , an authorised civilian employee or an authorised officer of a licensing authority ... who, in pursuance of subsection (1) above, demands to do so to enter or inspect the premises, vehicle or vessel or obstructs the entry thereto of a constable or such an employee or officer, in pursuance of that subsection;

• (b) being a person in respect of whom powers are exercised under subsection (1) above, on being required under that subsection to do so by a constable , an authorised civilian employee or an authorised officer of the licensing authority ... , fails without reasonable excuse to produce any equipment, plant, apparatus or stock-in-trade or to permit a constable or such an employee or officer, in pursuance of that subsection, to inspect any equipment, plant, apparatus or stock-in-trade;

• (c) being a holder of a licence, on being required by a constable , an authorised civilian employee or an authorised officer of the licensing authority ... , in pursuance of subsection (1) above, to produce any records or other document required by or under this Part or Part II of this Act to be kept by the holder of a licence, fails without reasonable excuse to produce them;

shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

• (4) An authorised officer of a licensing authority , an authorised civilian employee or a constable may require any person who the officer , employee or constable has reasonable ground to believe is carrying on an activity which requires to be licensed to produce his licence within 5 days of being required to do so.

• (5) Any person who, having been required under subsection (4) above to produce a licence, fails without reasonable excuse to do so within the period of 5 days specified in that subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

• (6) An authorised officer of a licensing authority or authorised civilian employee ... shall not be entitled to exercise the powers which he may exercise under subsection (1) or (4) above until he has produced his authorisation—

• (a) in relation to the exercise of powers under subsection (1)(a) above, to the person for the time being in charge of the premises, vehicle or vessel; and

• (b) in any other case, to the person in respect of whom the powers are to be exercised.

• (7) A constable who is not in uniform shall not be entitled to exercise the powers which he may exercise under subsection (1) or (4) above until he has produced his identification—

• (a) in relation to the exercise of powers under subsection (1)(a) above, to the person for the time being in charge of the premises, vehicle or vessel; and

• (b) in any other case, to the person in respect of whom the powers are to be exercised.

Powers of entry to and search of unlicensed premises

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• (1) If a justice of the peace or sheriff is satisfied by evidence on oath that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that—

• (a) an activity in respect to which a licence under this Act (other than a knife dealer's licence) is required is being carried on in any premises, vehicle, or vessel; and

• (b) no such licence is in force,

he may grant a warrant authorising any constable to enter and search the premises, vehicle or vessel specified in the warrant.

• (2) A constable may use reasonable force in executing a warrant granted under subsection (1) above.

• (3) A constable who is not in uniform shall produce his identification if required to do so by any person in or upon any premises, vehicle or vessel which the constable is about to enter, is entering or has entered under the powers conferred under subsection (1) above, and if he has been so required to produce his identification, he shall not be entitled to enter or search the premises, vehicle or vessel or, as the case may be, remain there or continue to search the premises, vehicle or vessel until he has produced it.

• (4) Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to permit a constable in pursuance of a warrant granted under this section to enter and search any premises, vehicle or vessel or who obstructs the entry thereto or search thereof by a constable shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

Offences, etc.

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• (A1) Any person who without reasonable excuse does anything for which a licence is required under section 27A without having such a licence is guilty of an offence and liable—

• (a) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

• (b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both.

• (1) Any person who without reasonable excuse does anything for which a licence is required under any provision of Part II of this Act other than section 27A without having such a licence shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction

• (a) in a case where the licence so required is a metal dealer's licence, an itinerant metal dealer's licence or a public entertainment licence, to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; and

• (b) in any other case,, to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

• (2) If a condition attached to a licence is not complied with, the holder of the licence shall, subject to subsection (3) below, be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction

• (a) in a case where the licence is a public entertainment licence and the condition is attached under section 41(3)(b) of this Act, to such fine or imprisonment as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above (or to both); ...

• (aa) in a case where the licence is a knife dealer's licence, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; ...

• (ab) in a case where the licence is a metal dealer's licence or an itinerant metal dealer's licence, to such fine or imprisonment as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) (or to both), and

• (b) in any other case,, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

• (3) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (2) above to prove that he used all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

• (4) Any person who, in making an application under this Part of this Act to the licensing authority, makes any statement which he knows to be false or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction,

• (a) in a case where the application is for a knife dealer's licence, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; and

• (b) in any other case,to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

• (5) Any person who, being the holder of a licence—

• (a) fails without reasonable excuse to notify the licensing authority of a material change of circumstances in accordance with paragraph 9(1) of Schedule 1 to this Act;

• (b) without reasonable excuse makes or causes or permits to be made any material change in any premises, vehicle or vessel in contravention of paragraph 9(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act;

• (c) fails without reasonable excuse to deliver his licence to the licensing authority in accordance with paragraph 13(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding, in the case of an offence under paragraph (a) or (b) above, level 3 on the standard scale, and in the case of an offence under paragraph (c) above, level 1 on the standard scale.

• (6) Where a holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under section 5 (other than subsection (5) thereof), 6 or this section, the court by which he is convicted may, in addition to any other penalty which the court may impose, make an order in accordance with one or both of the following paragraphs—

• (a) that the licence shall be revoked;

• (b) that the holder of the licence shall be disqualified from holding a licence for a period not exceeding 5 years.

• (7) Where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under this section, an extract of such conviction and sentence (if any) shall, within 6 days after the date of the conviction, be transmitted by the clerk of the court to the licensing authority which granted the licence.

• (8) A person may appeal against an order under subsection (6) above in the same manner as against sentence and the court which made the order may, pending the appeal, suspend the effect of the order.

• (9) A person may, at any time after the expiry of the first year of his disqualification under subsection (6) above, apply to the court which ordered the disqualification to remove it, and, on such application, the court may by order remove the disqualification as from such date as may be specified in the order or refuse the application, and, in either case, may order the applicant to pay the whole or any part of the expenses of such application.

• (10) Where an offence is alleged to have been committed under subsection (2) above by an employee or agent named in a licence, proceedings in respect of that offence may be instituted against the joint licence holder who is the employer of the employee or principal of the agent, whether or not proceedings have been instituted against the employee or agent.

Interpretation of Parts I and II

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In this Part and in Part II of this Act except where the context otherwise requires—

• ...

• “authorised civilian employee” means a person— appointed by the Scottish Police Authority under section 26(1) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8); and authorised by the chief constable for the purposes of sections 5 and 11 of this Act;

• “chief constable” means the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland;

• ...

• “licence” means a licence granted under this Part and Part II of this Act, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “premises” includes land.

Part II — Licensing and Regulation—Particular Activities

Application of sections 10 to 27 and 38 to 44

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• (1) Sections 10 to 27 (except section 20), any regulations made under the said section 20, and sections 38 to 43 (except section 41A) of this Act and any order made under section 44(1)(a) of this Act (which sections regulations and order are in this section called the “optional provisions”) shall have effect in the area of a licensing authority only if and insofar as the authority have so resolved in accordance with subsections (2) to (8) below.

• (2) A licensing authority may, in accordance with this section, resolve that, as from a day specified in the resolution (which must not be before the expiration of the period of nine months beginning with the day on which the resolution was made) any activity provision for the licensing and regulation of which is made by the optional provisions shall require to be licensed in accordance with the provisions of this Act relating to that activity and shall be regulated by those provisions.

• (3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) below, a resolution under this section may be made—

• (a) in relation to all or any of the activities referred to in subsection (2) above;

• (b) in relation to the whole or any part of the area of the licensing authority;

• (c) in relation to—

• (i) all classes of an activity referred to in any of the optional provisions; or

• (ii) all such classes subject to exceptions; or

• (iii) any particular such class or classes.

• (4) A licensing authority may not make a resolution under this section relating to any of the activities provision for the licensing and regulation of which is made in sections 10 to 23 of this Act (that is to say the operation of a vehicle as a taxi, the operation of a vehicle as a hire car, the driving of a taxi and the driving of a hire car) unless it relates to all these activities.

• (5) A resolution made under this section by the licensing authority relating to—