Rowland v Deas
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 17 July 1906 |
| Docket Number | No. 25. |
| Date | 17 July 1906 |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord M'Laren, Lord Pearson.
Complaint—Relevancy—Public-House—Disorderly behaviour while drunk, not said to be ‘to the annoyance of any person’—Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903 (3 Edw. VII., cap. 25), sec. 70, subsec. (1).—
The Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903, sec. 70 (1), enacts:—‘Every person who in any street … behaves while drunk in a riotous or disorderly manner or while drunk uses obscene or indecent language to the annoyance of any person, shall be liable on summary conviction’ to a penalty.
A complaint charged the accused that he did in a street ‘behave while drunk, in a riotous and disorderly manner, swear, shout aloud, and use obscene language’ and was thereby guilty of an offence contrary to sec. 70 (1) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903.
Held that the complaint was irrelevant in respect that it did not set forth that these acts were done to the annoyance of any person.
Procedure—Competency—Alternative modes of trial—Public-House—Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903 (3 Edw. VII., cap. 25), sec. 91, subsecs. (1), (2), and (3).—
Held that in virtue of the provisions in subsections (2) and (3) of section 91 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903, an offence against that Act may competently be prosecuted and tried either under the Burgh Police Act, 1892, or under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.
On 22d December 1905, John Rowland, carter, Coldstream, was served with a ‘service copy summons’ bearing to be under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, summoning him to appear, on a certain day, before the Magistrate officiating in the Police Court of the burgh of Coldstream, to answer to a complaint, at the instance of the Burgh Prosecutor, charging him with being, in a certain street and at a certain time, ‘drunk, and behaving in a riotous and disorderly manner, swearing, shouting aloud, and using obscene language.’ In this document no reference was made to the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903.
On 27th December 1905, Rowland was charged in the Police Court of Coldstream, at the instance of William Alexander Deas, burgh prosecutor, on a complaint, bearing to be under ‘the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, and the Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903.’ The complaint set forth that the accused did, on a certain date, and in a street within the burgh of Coldstream, ‘behave, while drunk, in a riotous and disorderly manner, swear, shout aloud, and use obscene language, and has thereby...
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