The Scottish Licensing Laws
| Published date | 01 October 1939 |
| Date | 01 October 1939 |
| Author | D. G. Fraser |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3901200410 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Scottish Licensing Laws
By
D.
G.
FRASER,
B.L.
Solicitor;
formerly
Legal
Assistant
to
the
County
Clerk
of
Midlothian
THE principal Statute dealing with licensing in Scotland
is
the
Licensing (Scotland) Act, 1903, which consolidated
the law and also made far-reaching changes in it.
It
set up
many more restrictions on
the
sale of intoxicating liquor and
introduced asystem of registration of clubs which previously
had been outwith
the
licensing laws altogether.
The
next enactment, the Temperance(Scotland) Act, 1913,
is noteworthy in
that
it made possible amodified form of
prohibition
under
the
name
of"
Local
Option."
It
also made
important amendments on
the
1903 Act. Emergency war
legislation was repealed by
the
Licensing Act, 1921, which,
however, perpetuated acertain amount of it.
This
Act was
soon followed by the Intoxicating
Liquor
(Sale to Persons
under
18) Act, 1923, and
the
latest Statute is
the
Licensing
(Permitted Hours) Act, 1934.
These
four Acts are cited to-
gether as
the
Licensing (Scotland) Acts, 1903 to 1934.
The
two characteristics which mainly distinguish
the
Scottish licensing laws from those of England
are:
(I) no
public house can ever open on Sundays, and (2)
the
presence
of " dry areas."
The
basic principle of licensing in Scotland is
that
no
one can sell or retail excisable liquor without a licence ob-
tained by application to a Licensing Court. Licensing Courts
sit for the cities, large burghs
and
counties (in some cases for
districts of counties) twice a year, in April and October. A
chief constable or superintendent of police has the right
without notice to make objections, verbally or in writing, to
the granting or renewal of any certificate by the Licensing
Court. Appeal Courts are provided for
the
purpose of hearing
appeals and applications for confirmation of new certificates.
There
are three main forms of certificate: (I) inns and
hotels, (2) public-houses, and (3) dealers in excisable liquor
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