82Short-term closure of licensed premises

82 Short-term closure of licensed premises

82 Short-term closure of licensed premises

(1) An authorised officer or the Authority may, by notice served on a licensee or a person apparently in charge of licensed premises, order the licensee to close the licensed premises from a time specified in the order until a later specified time.

(2) An authorised officer or the Authority may only make an order under this section—

(a) on the application of the Secretary or the Commissioner of Police, and

(b) only if the authorised officer or the Authority (as the case requires) is satisfied that a serious breach of this Act has occurred, or is likely to occur, on the premises and that the closure of the premises is necessary to prevent or reduce a significant threat or risk to the public interest.

(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), circumstances in which there may be a significant threat or risk to the public interest include circumstances in which there is—

(a) a threat to public health or safety, or

(b) a risk of substantial damage to property, or

(c) a significant threat to the environment, or

(d) a risk of serious offences (having a maximum penalty of not less than 2 years imprisonment) being committed on the premises.

(4) An order may not require the closure of premises for a period longer than 72 hours.

(5) Subject to subsection (4), an order may require the closure of premises until specified conditions are met.

(6) A licensee must not fail to comply with an order made under this section.

Maximum penalty—50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both.

(7) More than one order closing the same premises may not be made under this section in any period of one week.