Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

83 Procedure where Licensing Board receives notice of conviction

(1) Subsection (2) applies where the relevant Licensing Board—

(a) receives a notice of conviction relating to a personal licence holder, or

(b) becomes aware that a personal licence holder was, during the application period, convicted of a relevant offence or a foreign offence.

(2) The Licensing Board must give notice of the conviction to the appropriate chief constable.

(3) The appropriate chief constable must, within 21 days of the date of receipt of a notice under subsection (2), respond to the notice by giving the Licensing Board one or other of the notices mentioned in subsection (4).

(4) Those notices are—

(a) a notice stating that the chief constable is unable to confirm the existence of the conviction or that the conviction does not relate to a relevant or a foreign offence, or

(b) a notice confirming the existence of the conviction and that it relates to a relevant or a foreign offence.

(5) Where the appropriate chief constable—

(a) proposes to give a notice under subsection (4)(b), and

(b) considers that, having regard to the conviction specified in the notice, it is necessary for the purposes of the crime prevention objective that the licence holder’s personal licence should be revoked, suspended or endorsed,

the chief constable may include in the notice a recommendation to that effect.

(6) If the Licensing Board receives from the appropriate chief constable a notice under subsection (4)(a), the Licensing Board may not take any further action in relation to the conviction.

(7) If the Licensing Board receives from the appropriate chief constable a notice under subsection (4)(b), the Licensing Board must hold a hearing.

(8) At the hearing, the Licensing Board may—

(a) having regard to—

(i) the conviction, and

(ii) any recommendation contained in the chief constable’s notice under subsection (5),

(b) after giving—

(i) the licence holder concerned, and

(ii) the appropriate chief constable,

an opportunity to be heard, and

(c) if satisfied that it is necessary to do so for the purposes of the crime prevention objective,

make an order under subsection (9).

(9) That order is an order—

(a) revoking,

(b) suspending for such period, not exceeding 6 months, as the Board considers appropriate, or

(c) endorsing,

the personal licence held by the licence holder concerned.

(10) Where the Licensing Board makes an order under subsection (9), the Board must give—

(a) the licence holder concerned,

(b) the appropriate chief constable, and

(c) if different, the Licensing Board which issued the personal licence,

notice of the order and of the reasons for making it.

(11) In this section—

• “the application period” means, in relation to a personal licence holder, the period—

  (a)

  beginning with the date on which the application for the personal licence held by that licence holder was made, and

  (b)

  ending with the date on which that application was granted,

• “notice of conviction” means a notice under section 81(2) or 82(2), and

• “relevant Licensing Board” means, in relation to a personal licence holder—

  (a)

  if the personal licence holder is working as a premises manager at any licensed premises, the Licensing Board for the area in which those premises are situated,

  (b)

  in any other case, the Licensing Board which issued the personal licence held by the licence holder.