Licensing (Consolidation) Act 1910
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1910 c. 24 |
Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910
(10 Edw. 7 & 1 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 24.
An Act to consolidate the Law relating to Justices' Licences for the Sale by retail of Intoxicating Liquor and to the Registration of Clubs.
[3rd August 1910]
B E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Obligation to obtain Justices' Licence .
Obligation to obtain Justices' Licence .
1 Justices' licence required for grant of retail excise licence.
1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, an excise licence under which intoxicating liquor may be sold by retail shall not be granted except to a person who holds a justices' licence granted in accordance with this Act authorising the grant of the excise licence to that person, and any excise licence granted in contravention of this section shall be void.
Licensing Districts and Authorities .
Licensing Districts and Authorities .
2 Licensing districts and authorities.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a licensing district is a petty sessional division of a county, and a borough having a separate commission of the peace.
Where a county is not divided into petty sessional divisions, the whole county (excluding the area of any borough having a separate commission of the peace) shall be deemed to be a petty sessional division for the purposes of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, as respects a licensing district being a petty sessional division of a county—
(a ) the licensing justices are the justices acting in and for the petty sessional division;
(b ) the confirming authority are quarter sessions; and
(c ) the compensation authority are quarter sessions.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, as respects a licensing district being a borough—
(a ) The licensing justices are—
(i) in a county borough, for all purposes, the borough licensing committee;
(ii) in a borough, not being a county borough, and having the required number of justices, the borough licensing committee so far as respects the grant of new justices' licences and the ordinary removal of justices' licences, and for other purposes the borough justices;
(iii) in a borough, not being a county borough, and not having the required number of justices, for all purposes the borough justices.
(b ) The confirming authority are—
(i) in a borough not having the required number of justices, the joint committee appointed under this Act; and
(ii) in any other borough the whole body of borough justices.
(c ) The compensation authority are—
(i) in a county borough, the whole body of borough justices; and
(ii) in a borough not being a county borough, the quarter sessions for the county.
The required number of justices in a borough is ten or more, all justices, whether disqualified for acting under this Act or not, being reckoned for this purpose, and the number being taken as at the time appointed under this Act for the appointment of the borough licensing committee.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the city of London shall be deemed to be a county borough.
(5) The justices of the county shall not have any power or authority as licensing justices in any of the principal Cinque Ports or in the two ancient towns, and in those ports and towns the justices of the port or town shall be the licensing justices, and the corporate and non-corporate members and liberties of any of those ports or towns, not being within the limits of a borough having a separate commission of the peace, shall be treated as part of the port or town.
3 Borough licensing committee.
(1) The borough licensing committee shall be appointed by the borough justices acting in and for the borough, during the last fortnight in January in every year.
(2) The borough licensing committee shall consist of such number of borough justices as the justices appointing the committee determine, not being less than seven in a county borough, and not being less than three nor more than seven in any other borough.
(3) A casual vacancy arising in the committee from death, resignation, or otherwise, may be filled up by the justices by whom the committee is appointed.
(4) The quorum of the borough licensing committee shall be three.
(5) The members of the borough licensing committee retiring at the end of a year may be reappointed, and, if from any cause members are not appointed in any year to succeed the retiring members, the retiring members may continue to act until their successors are appointed.
4 Joint committee.
(1) A joint committee shall consist of three justices of the county in which the borough is situated, and three justices of the borough.
(2) The three justices of the county shall be appointed by the confirming authority of the county, and the same county justices may be appointed members of more than one joint committee under this section.
(3) The three justices of the borough shall be appointed by the borough justices.
(4) Where from any reason there are not for the time being three borough justices (being justices who are not disqualified for acting under this Act) to form the quota of a joint committee, the deficiency in number shall be supplied by county justices (being justices who are not so disqualified) to be appointed by the confirming authority.
(5) A casual vacancy in the joint committee arising from death, resignation, or otherwise, may be filled up by the justices by whom the member whose place is vacated was appointed.
(6) The quorum of the joint committee shall be five.
(7) The senior justice on the joint committee present at any meeting shall be chairman of the meeting, and, in the event of an equal division of the committee, the chairman shall have a second vote.
5 Division of area.
(1) The compensation authority may, if they think fit, divide their area into districts for the purpose of their powers and duties under this Act as such authority, and in that case this Act shall operate as if those districts were separate areas for the purposes of those powers and duties under the same authority.
(2) Where quarter sessions have customarily been held separately by adjournment or otherwise for any part of a county, the Secretary of State may by order, on the application of the justices sitting at each such separate sessions, constitute for the purposes of the execution of the powers and duties of quarter sessions as confirming and compensation authority any part of the county for which quarter sessions are for the time being so separately held a separate county, and the justices usually sitting at those separate quarter sessions a separate quarter sessions, and make all necessary provisions for the administration of those powers and duties in such a case.
6 Committees of compensation and confirming authorities.
(1) A compensation authority may delegate any of their powers and duties under this Act as such authority to a committee appointed in accordance with rules made by them under this section, and, when the authority are the quarter sessions of a county, shall so delegate their power of determining any question as to the refusal of the renewal of a justices' licence under this Act and matters consequential thereon.
(2) The confirming authority of a county may delegate any of their powers and duties under this Act as such authority to a committee appointed in accordance with rules made by them under this section, and shall so delegate their power of confirming the grant of a new justices' licence.
(3) Any compensation authority or confirming authority who may appoint, or who are required to appoint, a committee under this section, may make rules to be approved by a Secretary of State, for the mode of appointment of those committees, and for the number, the quorum, and (so far as procedure is not otherwise provided for) the procedure of those committees.
(4) In a county the same committee may be appointed for the purpose of the exercise of the powers and duties of quarter sessions both as compensation authority and as confirming authority.
(5) The justices of any borough, not being a county borough but having a separate commission of the peace, shall be entitled to appoint one of their number to act, with reference to the determination of any question as to the refusal of the renewal of a justices' licence under this Act and any matters consequential thereon, on the committee appointed under this section by the quarter sessions of the county as compensation authority, and for those purposes any justice so appointed shall be deemed to be an additional member of the committee.
7 Power to act by majority and validity of action.
(1) Where under this Act any power may be exercised or any duty is to be performed by the licensing justices or by justices acting in or for a borough including a county borough, whether those justices are described as the whole body of justices or otherwise, that power may be exercised, and that duty may be performed by a majority of the justices present at a meeting assembled for the purpose.
(2) No objection shall be made to any licence granted or confirmed by the borough justices or by a borough licensing committee or joint committee under this Act on the ground that the justices or committee of justices were not qualified to make the grant or confirmation.
8 Power in certain cases for justices...
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