7. Persons may similarly be disqualified from holding a licence.
8. Liquor may only be sold on the premises specified in the licence and during the following hours:—week-days; London, 5 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (Saturday, midnight); large towns 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; other places 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.—Sundays; London, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.; other places 12.30 p.m. (or 1 p.m.) to 2.30 p.m. (or 3 p.m.), 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Christmas Day and Good Friday are counted as Sunday. In Scotland, Wales and Ireland (except the five chief towns) no sale is permitted on Sunday. Licence holders may sell during prohibited hours to lodgers staying in the house and to bona-fide travellers, who must be not less than 3 m. from the place they slept in on the previous night. Extension of hours of sale may be granted for special occasions and for special localities (e.g. early markets).
9. The following proceedings are prohibited in licensed premises: permitting children under 14 to be in a bar, selling any liquor to children under 14 for consumption on the premises, selling liquor to children under 14 as messengers except in corked and sealed vessels, selling spirits for consumption on the premises to persons under 16; selling to drunken persons and to habitual drunkards; permitting drunkenness, permitting disorder, harbouring prostitutes, harbouring constables, supplying liquor to constables on duty, bribing constables, permitting betting (persistent) or gaming, permitting premises to be used as a brothel, harbouring thieves, permitting seditious meetings; permitting the payment of wagers on premises; permitting premises to be used for election committee rooms. In and within 20 m. of London music and dancing are prohibited on licensed premises except under special licences.
10. The police have the right of entry to licensed premises at any time for the purpose of preventing or detecting offences.
11. The injurious adulteration of any liquor is prohibited; also the dilution of beer; but dilution of spirits is not unlawful if the customer’s attention is drawn to the fact.
12. All clubs in which intoxicating liquor is sold must be registered. If the liquor is the collective property of the members no licence is required for retail sale, but no liquor can be sold for consumption off the premises. Clubs run for profit, known as proprietory clubs, are on the same legal footing as public-houses.
13. Penalties incurred by licence-holders for offences under the foregoing provisions. For selling any other kind of liquor than that authorized—first offence, fine not exceeding £50 or one month’s imprisonment; second offence, fine not exceeding £100 or 3 months’ imprisonment with forfeiture of licence and, if ordered, confiscation of liquor and disqualification for five years; third offence, fine not exceeding £100 or six months’ imprisonment with forfeiture of licence and, if ordered, confiscation of liquor and unlimited disqualification. Under the Excise Acts the penalty for selling without a licence is—for spirits, a fine of £100, confiscation of liquor, forfeiture of licence and perpetual disqualification; for wine, a fine of £20; for beer or cider “on” consumption £20, “off” consumption £10. For sale to children; first offence, fine up to £2, second offence, fine up to £5. Permitting premises to be used as a brothel, fine of £20, forfeiture of licence and perpetual disqualification. Other offences, fine up to £10 for first conviction, up to £20 for second.
14. The following are offences on the part of the public. Being found drunk on any highway or other public place or on licensed premises; penalty, fine up to 10s. for first conviction, up to 20s. for second, and up to 40s. for third. Riotous or disorderly conduct while drunk; fine up to 40s. Falsely pretending to be a traveller or lodger; fine up to £5. Causing children to be in a bar or sending them for liquor contrary to the law; fine up to £2 for first and up to £5 for second offence. Attempt to obtain liquor by a person notified to the police as an habitual drunkard; fine up to 20s. for first offence, up to 40s. for subsequent ones. Giving drunken persons liquor or helping them to get it on licensed premises; fine up to 40s. or imprisonment for a month. Causing children under 11 to sing or otherwise perform on licensed premises, and causing boys under 14 or girls under 16 to do so between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.; fine up to £25 or three months’ imprisonment.
The foregoing statement of the law does not in all respects apply to Scotland and Ireland, where the administration differs somewhat from that of England. In Scotland the provost and bailies are the licensing authority in royal and parliamentary burghs, and elsewhere the justices. They hold two sessions annually for granting licences and have considerably more power in some respects than in England. The hours of opening are from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (week days only), but there is a discretionary power to close at 10 p.m. In Ireland the licensing authority is divided between quarter sessions and petty sessions. Public-house licences are granted and transferred at quarter sessions; renewals and other licences are dealt with at petty sessions. In Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Londonderry and Galway the licensing jurisdiction of quarter sessions is exercised by the recorder, elsewhere by the justices assembled and presided over by the county court judge. The licensing jurisdiction of petty sessions is exercised by two or more justices, but in Dublin by one divisional justice.
| Licence. | Old Duty. | New Duty 1909–1910. |
| Manufacturers’ Licences— | ||
| Distiller (spirits) | £10, 10s. | £10 for first 50,000 gallons, £10 for every additional 25,000 gallons. |
| Rectifier (spirits) | £10, 10s. | £15, 15s. |
| Brewer | £1 | £1 for first 100 barrels, 12s. for every additional 50 barrels. |
| Sweets (British wines) | £1 | £5, 5s. |
| Wholesale Dealers’ Licences— | ||
| Spirits | £10, 10s. | £15, 15s. |
| Beer | £3, 6s. 1d. | £10, 10s. |
| Wine | £10, 10s. | No change. |
| Sweets | £5, 5s. | No change. |
| Retail Licences On— | ||
| Full or Publican’s (spirits, beer, wine and cider) |
£4, 10s. to £60 according to annual value of premises. |
Half the annual value of premises, with a fixed minimum ranging from £5 in places with less than 2000 inhabitants to £35 in towns having over 100,000 inhabitants. |
| Beer-house | £3, 10s. | One-third of annual value of premises, with a minimum as above ranging from £3, 10s. to £23, 10s. |
| Wine (confectioners’) | £3, 10s. | From £4, 10s. to £12 according to annual value. |
| Cider | £1, 5s. | From £2, 5s. to £6. |
| Sweets | £1, 5s. | From £2, 5s. to £6. |
| Retail Licences Off— | ||
| Spirits | £3, 3s. | From £10 to £50 according to annual value. |
| Spirits (grocers’, Scotland) | £4, 4s. to £13, 13s. 6d. | |
| Spirits (grocers’, Ireland) | £9, 18s. 5d. to £14, 6s. 7d. | |
| Beer (England) | £1, 5s. | £1, 10s. to £10. |
| Beer (grocers’, Scotland) | £2, 10s. and £4, 4s. | £1, 10s. to £10. |
| Wine (grocers’) | £2, 10s. 0d. | £2, 10s. to £10. |
Excise Licences and Taxation.—The excise licences may be divided into four classes, (1) manufacturers’, (2) wholesale dealers’, (3) retail dealers’ for “on” consumption, (4) retail dealers’ for “off” consumption. Only the two last classes come under the jurisdiction of the justices, as explained above. The total number of different excise licences is between 30 and 40, but
