Licensing Courts

Licensing Court Rules 2014 came into effect on 1^st September 2014. Any application to the Licensing Court made after this date will be subject to these Rules. Please note these Rules change the procedures and time limits for making applications before the Licensing Court.

The Licensing Court Rules 2014 can be accessed here.

Guidance Notes for Licensing Courts forms are available here

Licensing Court dates for 2018

For time limits for filing any Licence Application, please refer to the Licensing Court Rules 2014.

• 13^th September 2018
• 11^th October 2018
• 8^th November 2018
• 13^th December 2018

Monthly Licensing Courts

The Licensing Court is chaired by Her Worship the Deputy High Bailiff accompanied by up to four magistrates. The court usually sits on the second Thursday of each month in a public court.

The Licensing Court deals with applications for:

• on-licences (and any variation of);
• off-licences (and any variation of);
• passenger vessels licences;
• designated officials;
• music & dancing licences (and any variation of);
• registration of clubs (and any variation of);
• club secretary;
• occasional licences;
• cinematograph; and
• weekly club and charity functions.

After receiving the application, the court grants the licences either at court, or in some instances, licences can be issued administratively in private chambers.

All Licensing Court Applications (together with all relevant supporting documentation) must be submitted to the court, in duplicate, together with the relevant fee (see guidance in relation to certain fees here). Failure to do so will result in your application being returned.

Applications which are heard at the monthly licensing court

The fees for the various applications are detailed on the Fees page.

Applications without specific forms

Application to change the Secretary of a Club

A letter application should be sent to the court requesting the change of secretary together with a minute of the club’s decision to change secretary and the relevant fee. NB: All documentation should be submitted in duplicate. The letter should include full details of the new secretary and indicate which court sitting they wish to attend. Upon receipt, the court will inform the new secretary of a court date on which he/she should appear before the Licensing Bench.

Application to amend a licensed premises

A letter application should be sent to the court requesting the changes to be made together with plans detailing the proposed changes and the relevant fee. All documentation must be submitted and advertised in accordance with the time scales set out in the Licensing Court Rules 2014.NB: All documentation should be submitted in duplicate.

Weekly Special Permissions/Charitable Function Licences

Special permissions are weekly applications submitted by clubs to ask permission to hold a function where non club members will be attending. These may be considered by Her Worship, sitting alone, every Thursday. Applications must be lodged at the court office with the appropriate fee and supporting documentation by close of business on the Friday prior to the Thursday on which the applications are to be considered. Failure to comply will result in applications not being considered. Licences are made available for collection at the Courts of Justice public counter each Friday at 12 Noon. One (white) copy is retained by the applicant and the other copy (pink) should be forwarded, by the applicant, to the local police station in the vicinity of the event. Failure to collect the licences will be reported to the Police Alcohol Unit.

Applications should be sent,in duplicate, to the following address:

Legislation

The following Acts and Rules apply for Licensing matters

• The Licensing Act 1995
• The Licensing (Amendment) Act 2001
• The Licensing Regulations 1996
• The Licensing Court Rules 2014
• The Licensing Court of Appeal Rules 1996
• The Music and Dancing Acts 1961 to 1976
• The Cinematograph Act 1977

Copies of the legislation can be obtained from the Tynwald Library, contact details for which can be found on the Tynwald website.

For any queries which are not answered by the information contained on this page, please email the Licensing section here