Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1943

Grant of new licence in respect of more convenient premises.

21.—(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as the applicant) duly gives notice of his intention to apply for a licence in respect of premises (in this section referred to as the new premises) to which no licence is attached and, at the proceedings in the Circuit Court in relation to such application, the applicant shows to the satisfaction of the Court—

(a) that the applicant is the holder of a licence attached to premises (in this section referred to as the existing premises) situate in the immediate vicinity of the new premises, and

(b) that the new premises and the existing premises are both situate in the same District Court area prescribed by law for the purposes of the transaction of licensing business, and

(c) that neither the new premises nor the existing premises is situate in a county or other borough, an urban district, or a town, and

(d) that the annual value under the Valuation Acts of the new premises is not less than the annual value under those Acts of the existing premises, and

(e) that the new premises is more suitable than the existing premises for the business of selling intoxicating liquor,

the Court shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Act of 1902, cause such certificate as is mentioned in section 5 of the Act of 1833 to be given to the applicant declaring him to be duly entitled to receive a licence in respect of the new premises, unless the Court, in its absolute discretion, prohibits the issuing of such licence either on the ground of the unfitness or inconvenience of the new premises or on the ground that the existence of a licence in respect of the new premises would be unreasonably detrimental to the business then carried on in some licensed premises in the neighbourhood of the new premises.

(2) Where, in a case to which the foregoing sub-section of this section applies, the certificate referred to in that sub-section is given to the applicant, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the licence (in this sub-section referred to as the new licence) to which the applicant is declared by the said certificate to be entitled and which is granted to him in pursuance of that certificate shall be a licence of the same character in all respects (including conditions inserted therein) as the licence (in this sub-section referred to as the old licence) attached to the existing premises;

(b) nothing contained in the Act cf 1902 shall operate to prevent the grant of the new licence to the applicant;

(c) upon the grant of the new licence, the old licence shall be extinguished;

(d) every (if any) conviction which is recorded on the old licence under section 25 of the Act of 1927 at the time of the grant of the new licence shall be deemed to be recorded on the new licence under the said section and to have been so recorded on the date on which it was recorded on the old licence;

(e) if paragraph (1) of section 2 of the Act of 1902 applies in respect of the existing premises, those premises shall, upon the old licence being extinguished in pursuance of this sub-section, cease to be premises to which the said paragraph applies, and the Act of 1902 shall thenceforward have effect accordingly in relation to the existing premises.