Latest On Impact Of Procedural Irregularity

On the 28^th November the Queens Bench Division of the High Court released their judgment in the case of EFe’s Snooker Club –v- Stratford Magistrates Court where procedural irregularities were once again considered in relation to a Licensing Review.  In this instance the notice advertising the Review was defective pursuant to the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises Licence and Club Premises Certificate) Regulations 2005 in that it did not state the grounds of the application for Review.

Both High Court Judges Simon and Beatson confirmed that the District Judge on appeal had not erred in applying the approach adopted in ‘Jeyeanthan’ when he had considered that there had been substantial compliance with the regulations.  The Senior Judges confirmed that the Jeyeanthan approach required an analysis of the statutory intent of the legislation overall.

However, on the basis that there was compliance with four of the five requirements under regulation 39, the Notice was substantially compliant.  Furthermore that the District Judge was entitled to look at the purpose of the Notice as a whole. 

This confirms the view that the process of Review cannot be halted so long as the notice depicts the overall position even if some of the detail is lacking.