UK Offence Report

Provision for inspection and rights of entry

article 71(2) of The Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

2 If any person—

a fails or delays without reasonable excuse to admit

a constable who demands admission to the premises under paragraph (1), or

b on being required by

a constable to do so, fails without reasonable excuse to permit the constable to inspect the premises, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

2 If any person— a fails or delays without reasonable excuse to admit a constable who demands admission to the premises under paragraph (1), or b on being required by a constable to do so, fails without reasonable excuse to permit the constable to inspect the premises, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liab

What would breach article 71(2)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person demands admission to the premises under paragraph (1), or b on being required by a constable to do so, fails without reasonable excuse to permit the constable to inspect the premises, he.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
19 December 1996
In force from
20 February 1997
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order consolidates with amendments the law relating to licences for the sale by retail of intoxicating liquor. The principal amendments are— a the kinds of premises which may be licensed are extended to include guest houses, conference centres and higher education institutions; b licences to be valid for up to 5 years; c the sale of intoxicating liquor is permitted along with other goods; d the compulsory afternoon break in the permitted hours on a Sunday is abolished; e the permitted hours for off-licences are extended; f additional permitted hours may be allowed for licensed premises providing entertainment or food or both and on 20 occasions in any year for other licensed premises without any conditions; g children, in the company of an adult, are to be allowed in certain licensed premises which are certified in that respect; h the prohibition on a restaurant having a bar is abolished; and i licensed premises are permitted to open outside the permitted hours for any purpose which does not involve the sale of intoxicating liquor.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”; the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source