Speaking at the BII Roadshow in London last week, James Anderson, partner at licensing law firm Poppleston Allen, said there is every chance that local councils will be challenged by licensees should they decide to introduce an EMRO in a certain area.
The legislation introducing EMROs comes into force on 31 October and local councils will be able to implement one from next April at the earliest.
An EMRO will restrict the sale of alcohol from licensed premises in a certain area for any period of time between the hours of midnight and 6am.
Anderson described EMROs as “a knee jerk political reaction to a problem that doesn’t exist”, and urged licensees to resist the measure whereever possible.
“It is quite ironic that we are looking at piece of legislation that is actually restricting the hours in a certain area,” said Anderson.
“Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the political battle has to a certain extent been lost by the trade because the politicians are still of the view that the high streets are getting worse.”
Anderson went on to suggest that EMROs are very much open to challenge, such is the impact they could have on the livelihoods of licensees up and down the country.
“This is going to be a public procedure, a public hearing, so if there is a political decision against the evidence then it will be open to challenge in the High Court, and I think that some will be challenged.
He added: “Local authorities are not good with evidence. They are not good at having to prove something so I think this will be a test. They will have to show that there is the evidence, and then they will have to consult, and they will have to have a hearing, and then they will have to decide.
“I think it will be difficult for them to prove it and it is going to be very emotive. There will be a lot of licensees saying ‘this isn’t fair - you are taking away part of my livelihood and I haven’t done anything wrong’.”