Mu Mu - third time luck... or not!

Those within licensing circles should be familiar with the case of Mu Mu Enterprises v North Somerset District Council, the saga of which rumbles on with the reported quashing of the decision of the third review hearing!

In brief, the first review hearing decision was challenged on the basis that the licensing authority had failed to advertise the review on its website. The Magistrates' Court agreed with the appellant and quashed the decision.

The second review hearing was abandoned during proceedings when a speech by a member of the sub-committee was taken as indicating she had pre-determined her decision prior to much of the evidence being heard.

The third review hearing was held last year and subjected to another challenge on a technical point, namely that one of the sub-committee members was not actually a member of the licensing committee. Deputy District Judge Tate is reported to have taken the appellant's point and quashed the decision. A separate argument that the sub-committee member in question was not able to sit on the licensing committee due to being a member of the council's executive (contrary to the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 as amended by the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013) was not part of the determination due to the success of the first point.