Licensing and Registration of Clubs – Additional Permitted Hours

Not all of the changes made by the Act will come into effect at the same time and will be commenced in phases over the next year(s).

One of the provisions of the Act being commenced on the 1^st October 2021 is the introduction of Article 44A applications for further additional permitted hours.

This is a new court process which will allow pubs and hotels (which already have an Article 44 order or are applying for an Article 44 order at the same time) to apply to the court for later opening for an additional hour, up to a maximum of 104 nights in any 12 month period. Food and/or entertainment will need to continue to be provided during late opening.

Article 44A applications can be made to either the Magistrates' Court or the County Court.

Court Rules to provide for this new process are currently being drafted but to facilitate any applications required to be made before they are in place an “Administrative Form” for the applications at both the magistrate’s court and the County Court have been drafted and are located at the link here

Further information

Further guidance on the Act and all of the provisions being commenced at this time can be found on the Department for Communities website at the link below:

Licensing and Registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (NI) 2021 - Guide | Department for Communities (communities-ni.gov.uk)