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Legal

Jack Cummins is one of Scotland’s leading licensing lawyers. Every month he writes on licensing law and answers readers’ questions in SLTN.

Do you have a legal question for Jack Cummins?
Email sltn@peeblesmedia.com

Legal fight was a non-starter

The courts are unlikely to second-guess difficult health decisions
Closed_pub_chairs_on_tables

Licensed trade is a soft target

The pandemic has taken a wrecking ball to the hospitality sector, now staring into an abyss; and there’s a question many are asking: “Is the licensed trade being offered up as a sacrificial lamb in pursuit of an anti-alcohol strategy?"

Making a meal of COVID levels

Back in 2013, Allan Gallacher, a Glasgow barman, found himself in the dock after allegedly breaching ‘breakfast licence’ rules

Circuit breaker is more like a bomb blast

It may be cutely called a “circuit breaker” but a ban on the sale of alcohol in almost every hospitality setting is more accurately described as the equivalent of dropping an atomic bomb on thousands of businesses across the country
Empty pub pic interior

Curfew reasons are ‘delusional’

“What fresh hell is this?” Those words of Dorothy Parker, the American novelist, come back to mind as soon as the first minister embarks on a Coronavirus review.
Waiter with face mask taking payment from customer

Stay correct on Test and Protect

It looks like a very straightforward requirement. Hospitality businesses are now under a legal obligation to collect customers’ contact details to support the NHS Test and Protect service

Risk assessment for COVID a must

When lockdown was imposed at the end of March, Scottish Government regulations imposed extraordinary restrictions on civil liberties, the likes of which we hope never to see again

‘Killjoy’ outdoor drinking bans are here to stay

When the reopening of outdoor areas was kicked down the lockdown-easing route map last week, sections of a frustrated public found bright sunshine and the availability of takeaway pints an irresistible temptation. But almost immediately a row has broken out over “killjoy” byelaw bans

Coronavirus: Scottish Government must relax outdoor and distance rules to give trade a fighting...

Following last week’s Scottish Government road map announcement holding out the prospect of outdoor drinking in phase two from mid-June, licensing lawyers have been inundated with an unprecedented flurry of trade enquiries

Coronavirus: Hurdles ahead on trade’s path to reopening

The answers to these questions will play a pivotal role in the survival of thousands of hospitality businesses. When will the lockdown measures be eased? How can the trade viably adapt to social distancing challenges – and what are the regulatory obstacles?

Columns

Jack Cummins
LEGAL by Jack Cummins
FINANCIAL Wylie & Bisset
Neil Morrison
ASK THE OPERATOR Neil Morrison
THE GRAPEVINE
Luke Richardson
MEET THE MAKER
William Woodburn
MIXED UP WORLD Ewan Angus