Mr William Grant: The Lord Advocate (Mr. William Grant) indicated dissent.
Mr William Grant: When I nodded just now I was dealing with the question of whether those who participated in the game were entitled to take drink during those hours. I indicated that participation in the game was not necessary, provided the person was a member of the club. He has to be a member, unless a member stands him a drink.
Mr William Grant: I remember the story of the American who, after spending a year in Scotland, said, "The one thing that struck me about the Scots climate was the way in which spring merged imperceptibly into winter."
Mr William Grant: I think that it will be convenient if I deal, first, with the point raised by the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Leith (Mr. Hoy), because it is part of the background to the problem which we are discussing. His complaint is that the sheriff is left with no discretion. This is nothing new in our licensing law. For many years—since 1903 in regard to clubs—we have proceeded on the basis that the...
Mr William Grant: I think that that takes us on to a different matter. I know that the hon. Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. W. Baxter) and the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Ross) have, as it were, tied the power of police inspection with the provisions of this new Clause, but the point is that it is up to the club to satisfy the sheriff that the conditions prescribed in subsection (2) here are satisfied....
Mr William Grant: I think that the answer lies in subsection (4). Any order made in regard to the granting of alternative hours expires on the date when the certificate of registration expires, that is to say, annually. The registration certificate has to be renewed annually and, equally, the sheriff must be satisfied annually that the club is still an athletic club and not a drinking den.
Mr William Grant: Most licensing offences are dealt with in the burgh or the J.P. court and not in the sheriff court. For that reason, I do not normally come in on the prosecution side, so that I have no wide experience. I have appeared both for and against publicans in the course of my experience, with equal impartiality and, I think, equal lack of success. Also, I have been a member of the committee of...
Mr William Grant: No, I have not had that misfortune, or fortune, whichever the hon. Gentleman calls it. The operative point is this. If the sheriff is left in doubt, then he is not satisfied. If he is not satisfied, he cannot grant these alternative hours. I think that it would be undesirable, and probably out of order, if I were to attempt at this stage to go into the more general question of a club...
Mr William Grant: The hon. Member is mixing up two things which I am trying to keep separate. When it comes to the registration of clubs in general, whether they be athletic, railwaymen's, working men's, educational, Conservative or Socialist the onus is on the objector to show that one of the grounds laid down in Section 174 of the 1959 Act is valid. But under this new Clause, the onus is on the club to...
Mr William Grant: I disagree. The premises have to be bona fideused for club premises, but the operative words are: wholly or mainly for the purpose of providing facilities in connection with the carrying on by members of the club and their guests of athletic sports or athletic games. In effect, that means that the premises have to be suitable for the carrying on of such activities by members. It applies to...
Mr William Grant: I do not wish to go into technical details, but that just will not do. Many of the former pupil clubs of the Scottish schools—Heriot's, Glasgow High School, Edinburgh Academicals, and so on—hold the registration certificate for the premises where games are played, but, in the main, they do not carry on athletic activities as clubs. These are carried on by the rugby club, the football...
Mr William Grant: It may be a registered club, but it may wish to build new premises or a new pavilion and to take advantage of the new Clause. I confirm what I have said about the final words of subsection (2, d), namely, persons who participate in that sport or game. The hon. Gentleman asked whether members could entertain their guests. That is so. On the other hand, a guest is not allowed to pay for his...
Mr William Grant: Certainly. When I used to play rugby football, thirty-one years ago, I was kept alive in the last five minutes by the thought of having a
Mr William Grant: I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time. The new Clause involves, if it is accepted, the consequential Amendments to Clause 15, page 15, line 22, after the first "the" to insert "sale or"; and in line 27, after "the", to insert "sale or". The reason for the new Clause is that I gave an undertaking in Committee, when Amendments were moved by the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan...
Mr William Grant: When one clarifies the law one does not try to make the position more confused. The position is that certain sheriffs now accept the provisions of the Clause as being the existing law while others think that it is not. I am merely saying that I hope the law will be regarded as it is stated in the Clause. The Amendments, which are consequential to the new Clause are designed to insert the...
Mr William Grant: The difficulty in this case is that there is no right of appeal. There is a single judge, the sheriff, whereas in 99 per cent. of cases there is some sort of appeal.
Mr William Grant: That arises under an Amendment to this Clause which may—I do not know—be discussed later. As soon as the premises are closed by law, the club ceases to be a registered club, and paragraph (a) does not then apply to it. It must be a registered club and, therefore, still open.
Mr William Grant: It would be open to youth clubs to become registered clubs. In practice, they do not, and there are restrictions on the selling of drink to young persons in clubs. I do not know of any youth club that is a registered club, and I doubt whether any ever will be. I do not think that the Clause will have any effect upon them. As to clarification, we are saying that certain views that certain...
Mr William Grant: The reason why this was inserted was that there are doubts about the law. It is common practice for two clubs in the same locality during the holiday season or when the premises are being reconstructed, redecorated, or the like, to have an arrangement under which the members of the closed club are accepted as members of the club that is open. I have experienced it frequently myself. In my...
Mr William Grant: My host signed the book. That is not to say that he was the only sober member of the party. It is a reasonable, well-known practice. The hon. Member raised a perfectly valid point about the closing of club premises. To repeat what I was saying when he came into the Chamber, if a club ceases to be a registered club it does not come under paragraph (a). The hon. Member will see that the other...