UK licensing legislation

The Government introduced a form of negative licensing via the Criminal Justice & Immigration Act (CJIA) and the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act (RESA), which came into force on 1 April 2009.  The TMA supported such a regulatory move in its consultation response of 2006.

In the CJIA and the RESA, provisions are included to facilitate the implementation of a negative licensing regime.

1. The CJIA enables restriction orders of up to one year to be placed on premises or a person who is convicted of an offence, provided two previous offences have been committed within a two year period.  The objective is to target persistent offenders.
2. The RESA enables civil sanctions (fixed monetary penalty or temporary cessation order) to be imposed in respect of an offence under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

The CJIA and RESA do not apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland.