CHAPTER
374
MUSIC AND DANCING LICENCES |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
SECTION |
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Music and dancing licences. |
Issue of licences and conditions thereof. |
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Notice of application to be given. |
Unlicensed house, etc., deemed of a disorderly
character. |
Description to be put up over premises. |
Licensed premises not to be used except at the
times stated in the licence. |
Affixing of inscription and observance of time
to be condition of every licence. |
Stipendiary and circuit magistrate may grant an
occasional licence. |
Report from Commissioner of Police as to
proposed licensed premises, etc. |
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Power of police to enter licensed premises. |
Issue and registration of licences. |
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CHAPTER 374 |
MUSIC AND DANCING
LICENCES |
An Act
for the regulation of places ordinarily used for public dancing or music or
other public entertainment of the like kind. | 12 of 1919
11 of 1925
23 of 1960
5 of 1987 |
[Commencement 9th
September, 1919] |
1. This Act may be cited as the Music and Dancing
Licences Act. | Short title. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- | Interpretation. |
"intoxicating
liquor," "licensed premises," "licensing authority,"
"district" and "spirits" shall have respectively the same
meanings as in the Liquor Licences Act. |
3. (1) A house, room, garden or other place, whether
licensed or not for the sale of intoxicating liquor, shall not be kept or used
for public dancing, singing, music or other public entertainment of the like
kind without a licence for the purpose or purposes for which the same
respectively is to be used, first obtained from the licensing authority, and
for the registration thereof a fee of twenty dollars shall be
paid by the person applying therefor. | Music and dancing licences. |
(2) Nothing in
this section contained shall apply to any house, room, garden or other place
owned or leased by a recognised religious body, or used in connection with any
church, chapel or meeting house belonging to a recognised religious body. |
4. (1) The licensing authority may at any sitting held
by it under the provisions of the Liquor Licences Act, or at any
adjournment thereof, or at any special sitting convened after such length of
notice as the licensing authority may determine, grant licences to such persons
as it thinks fit to keep or use houses, rooms, gardens or places for all or any
of the purposes of this Act upon such terms and conditions, and subject to such
restrictions, as the licensing authority by the respective licences determine,
and every licence shall be in force for one year or for such shorter period as
the licensing authority on the grant of the licence shall determine, unless the
same shall have been previously revoked as hereinafter provided. | Issue of licences and conditions thereof. |
(2)
When the licensing authority has refused to grant an application for a licence
in respect of certain premises or a transfer of a licence to new premises, an
application in respect of the premises concerned shall not be made or if made
shall not be considered by the licensing authority within six months of the
refusal of the original application. |
5. The licensing authority may from time to time at any
such sitting as aforesaid transfer any such licence to such person as it thinks
fit. | Transfer of licences. |
6. Each person shall in each case give seven days'
notice to the licensing authority and to the Commissioner of Police of his
intention to apply for any such licence, or for the transfer of any such
licence. | Notice of application to be given. |
7. Any house, room, garden or place kept or used for
any of the purposes of this Act without such licence first obtained shall be
deemed of a disorderly character, and the person occupying or in charge of the
same shall be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars for every day on which the
same is kept or used for any of the purposes of this Act. | Unlicensed house, etc., deemed of a disorderly
character. |
8. There shall be affixed and kept up in some
conspicuous place or part, to be determined by the Commissioner of Police, of
every house, room, garden or place so kept or used, and so licensed as
aforesaid, an inscription in large capital letters in the words following-
"Licensed in pursuance of the Music and Dancing Licences Act for
.........................................," with the addition of words
showing the purpose or purposes for which the same is licensed. | Description to be put up over premises. |
9. Any house, room, garden or place so kept or used,
although licensed under this Act, shall not be open for any of the purposes of
this Act, except on the days and between the hours stated in the licence. | Licensed premises not to be used except at times
stated in the licence. |
10. The affixing and keeping up of such inscription as
aforesaid, and the observance of the days and hours of opening and closing,
shall be inserted in and made a condition of every such licence. | Affixing of inscription and observance of time to be a
condition of every licence. |
11. A stipendiary and circuit magistrate may, if he
thinks fit, grant to any person applying for the same an occasional licence to
keep or use any house, room, garden or place for any of the purposes of this
Act for any period not exceeding fourteen days, which he shall specify in such
licence. Such licence may be granted without any notice being given under the
provisions of section 6 of this Act, and for the registration of such
licence a fee of fifty cents per diem shall be paid into the Treasury. | Stipendiary and circuit magistrate may grant an
occasional licence. |
12. Before granting any licence, the licensing
authority shall obtain a report in writing from the Commissioner of Police as
to the suitability, structure and other particulars of the house, room, garden
or place for which the licence is applied for, and as to the advisability of
granting a licence in respect of the same, and a notice shall be given in the Gazette
for fourteen days by the licensing authority before the granting of the said
licence. It shall not be obligatory on the stipendiary and circuit magistrate
to obtain such a report before granting an occasional licence, but he may
obtain such report if he deems it advisable. | Report from Commissioner of Police as to proposed
licensed premises, etc. |
13. (1) Any person shall be at liberty to oppose the
grant of a licence or transfer of a licence: | Opposition to grant. |
Provided that- |
(a) he has
given written notice to the licensing authority and to the applicant of his
intention to oppose the grant and has stated in such notice in general terms
the grounds of opposition; |
(b) such notice
has been given to the licensing authority and to the applicant not less than
five days before the day fixed for the holding of the licensing session or
before the day fixed for the hearing of the application. |
(2) A licensing
authority may, notwithstanding that no notice of opposition shall have been
given, adjourn the hearing of the application to a future day, and require the
attendance of the applicant, and any person concerned on such day, when the
matter will be heard and the objection considered as if the notice hereinbefore
prescribed had been given. |
(3) Any applicant
for, or any person objecting to, the granting of a licence or transfer of a
licence, who shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the licensing authority
in New Providence, shall have a right of appeal to the Supreme Court, and in
such event the provisions relating to appeals from magistrates contained in any
Act shall apply to such appeal. |
14. If any licensee acts in contravention or disregard
of any of the terms or conditions on or subject to which his licence was
granted, he shall be liable to a penalty of eighty dollars, or imprisonment for
three months, and to a daily penalty of twenty dollars for each day after conviction,
and his licence shall be liable to be revoked by the order of a court of
summary jurisdiction. | Penalties. |
15. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Police,
or any peace officer authorised by him, to enter any premises licensed under
this Act, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the terms and conditions of
the licence are being complied with, and to see that order and decorum are
being maintained, and generally for the purpose of preventing or detecting the
violation of any of the provisions of this Act or of the
Liquor Licences Act, and to remain on such premises for so long as is necessary
for the carrying out of his duty. | Power of police to enter licensed premises. |
16. (1) When the licensing authority in New Providence
has decided to grant any licence or the transfer of any licence under this Act,
or a stipendiary and circuit magistrate has decided to grant an occasional
licence, the licensing authority or the stipendiary and circuit magistrate, as
the case may be, shall give to the applicant an order for the issue thereof,
and the applicant shall without delay attend at the Treasury, present such
order, and pay to the Treasurer the sum payable therefor under the provisions
of this Act, and thereupon the Treasurer shall issue to the applicant the
proper licence or transfer of licence. | Issue and registration of licences. |
(2) A register
shall be kept by the licensing authority of every licence granted by it under
this Act, in which shall be fully set forth all the terms and conditions of the
said licence, and such register shall be open to the inspection of the
Commissioner of Police or any peace officer authorised by him to inspect the
same. |
17. Every holder of a licence under this Act shall at
all reasonable times produce for the inspection of the Commissioner of Police
or any peace officer authorised by him any licence granted to him under this
Act, and if he fails to produce such licence he shall be liable to a penalty
of twenty dollars, or to imprisonment for one month and his licence shall be
liable to be revoked by the order of a court of summary jurisdiction. | Production of licence. |
18. All penalties imposed by this Act shall be
recoverable in a summary manner before a magistrate in accordance with the law
regulating procedure before magistrates, and all proceedings for offences under
this Act may be prosecuted in the name of the Commissioner of Police or by a
peace officer. | Recovery of penalties. |
19. (1) This Act shall apply to New Providence. | Application of Act. |
(2) The
Governor-General may, from time to time, by Order, extend the provisions of
this Act to any Out Island or Out Island district, and upon any such extension
the commissioner of the district shall have and exercise the powers conferred
by this Act on a stipendiary and circuit magistrate with regard to the issue of
an occasional licence, and it shall not be obligatory on the commissioner as
the licensing authority of the district to obtain any report from, or for an
applicant to serve any notice on, the Commissioner of Police under the
provisions of this Act [i]*. |