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Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012

Sale and supply of alcohol generally - Licensing bodies - General provisions relating to licensing authority and licensing committees

203: Proceedings of licensing authority and licensing committees

You could also call this:

"How licensing authorities and committees make decisions about alcohol licences in public and private meetings"

When you are at a meeting of the licensing authority or a licensing committee, it is usually open to the public if they are making decisions about alcohol licences. You can attend these meetings, but sometimes the authority or committee might decide to discuss certain things in private. If the authority or committee is holding a public hearing, they can choose to keep some parts of it private, if they think it is necessary. They can also discuss their decisions in private, without the public present.

The authority or committee has the power to stop people from publishing reports about certain parts of the proceedings, but they cannot stop people from publishing the names of the people involved or details about the premises. When deciding whether to stop publication, the authority or committee must think about both the public's right to know what is happening and the privacy of the people involved. In some cases, a lawyer can help the authority by giving them advice during the proceedings. The authority or committee can choose how to run their meetings, as long as they follow the rules of the Act and any regulations made under it. Any important documents, such as decisions or orders, can be signed by the chairperson or secretary on behalf of the authority or committee.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3339694.

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202: Procedure, or

"What happens when you apply for an alcohol licence: the steps the licensing authority takes to decide"

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203A: Licensing committees must establish appropriate procedures, or

"Licensing committees must create fair and comfortable rules for considering alcohol licence applications."

Part 2Sale and supply of alcohol generally
Licensing bodies: General provisions relating to licensing authority and licensing committees

203Proceedings of licensing authority and licensing committees

  1. Whenever the licensing authority meets for the purpose of hearing any appeal, or the authority or any licensing committee meets for the purposes of exercising or performing any power or function that it is required by this Act to exercise or perform at a public hearing, the meeting must, except in a case to which section 202(1) applies and subject to the provisions of subsections (3) and (4), be held in public.

  2. Any other meeting of the authority or of any licensing committee may, in the discretion of the authority or committee, be held in public or in private.

  3. Whenever the authority or committee holds a public hearing it may in its discretion hold any part of the sitting in private if, having regard to the interests of persons appearing and being heard and to the public interest, it thinks it proper to do so.

  4. The authority or committee may in any case deliberate in private as to its decision on any matter or as to any question arising in the course of any proceedings.

  5. The authority or committee may make an order prohibiting the publication of any report or description of any part of the proceedings in any matter before it; but no such order may be made prohibiting the publication of the names and descriptions of the parties to the matter, or of particulars of any premises affected.

  6. In considering whether to make an order prohibiting publication, the authority or committee must consider both the public interest in being able to learn of the proceedings of the authority and licensing committees and the privacy of persons whose affairs are before the authority or committee.

  7. In any proceedings before the authority, any counsel or solicitor engaged by the authority pursuant to this Act may appear and be heard as counsel assisting the authority.

  8. Any decision, order, direction, certificate, or other document issued by the authority or committee may be signed on its behalf by the chairperson or the secretary.

  9. Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any regulations made under this Act, the authority or committee may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

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