Death of a licence-holder
Q Last week, in court, someone raised a question over a licence renewal, because they had heard that the holder of the licence had died in 2003.
No-one was in court for the renewal, but the clerk said it would have been allowed to continue anyway.
How is this, if the licensee is dead?
A This is not the first time this issue has cropped up.
Ever since three-year renewal was introduced, keeping up-to-date with the exact state of licences in a division has been far more difficult for the police and the courts.
The last renewal sessions in 2001 was just the same.
What the clerk may have been referring to is the right of the personal representatives of a deceased licensee to treat themselves as automatically holding a protection order for the premises from the date of death.
This usually means someone in the family.
No application needs to be made at that time to the licensing justices and, technically, there appears no requirement even to notify the clerk or the police.
But, of course, it does mean that someone then has to apply in the usual way for a transfer of the licence within the specified period, which is set at the end of the second licensing sessions after the date of death.
Given the time that may have elapsed, it could be that the protection order itself has ceased to have any effect and that, technically, the relatives are selling without a valid licence (because there is no holder).
But I suspect that the clerk or the police will soon be contacting the premises to advise them of the legal position, and an application for transfer might well be entertained in the circumstances.
This right is being drastically curtailed under the new Licensing Act, and an application must be made within the first seven days after death.
Residents' drinking rights QAt 11.45pm the other night, we were visited by police.
A couple, who had booked a room with us, were still drinking in the bar.
The police said they should be in a residents' area and not in the main bar, where drinking must stop at 11.20pm.
Were they right?
A It isn't a requirement that residents can only drink after time in a separate area, and that the bar must shut.
They can drink wherever they or the licensee chooses.
Residents are specially covered in the Licensing Act.
The general prohibition on sales made after hours does not apply to "the sale to... or consumption by... any person of intoxicating liquor in any premises where he is residing".
Interestingly enough, the same section of the Act also allows a resident to buy a drink for someone else after time even if that person is not staying the night.
A resident can buy a drink for a "private friend" and that person can stay in the bar to drink it, without any fear of the law.
Of course, the transaction has to be genuine and not a device to allow drinkers to stay on when they should legally have finished.
Shandy and the law Q Someone has told me that a made shandy is not covered by weights and measures laws.
Does this mean I need not worry about pints or half pints?
A It depends what your price list says.
If, as is customary, you give a separate price for shandy, then if a quantity is listed there, as it usually is, you must comply with the normal rules as if it were totally beer or cider that you were selling.
However, it is true that a mixture of beer or cider and any other liquid is specifically exempted from the weights-and-measures regulations on intoxicating liquor.
This means that a mixture of two beers must comply with regard to measurement, but a mixture of beer and a non-alcoholic product would not be covered by the regulations.
In some cases, licensees get round the problem by stating "small" or "large" for shandy and other mixed drinks on their lists.
If that is done, then technically the trading standards officers have no authority to insist on a specific measure.
