The Licensing Conference at Scots Law 2025

Murrayfield Stadium is the venue for the next event in our Scots Law Conference Series, exclusively available to delegates in person on the day.

Chaired by Scott Blair of Terra Firma Chambers and covering topics from lawful consultation on licensing policy, offences and conduct under the 2005 Act and the impact of the recent gambling legislation to insolvency, immigration, Martyn’s Law and proposals to reform the Civic Government (Scotland) Act, this new conference will include presentations from Jim Wilson of the Scottish Government, Stephen McGowan from TLT LLP, Amanda Usher of Woods Whur, Andrew Hunter from Harper Macleod, Niall Hassard of Hassard Licensing and Kevin Clancy from Shepherd and Wedderburn.

What's being covered?

Update from the Scottish Government

In this session delegates will hear about some of the most important projects currently in progress within the licensing team in Scottish Government, including the review of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act.

Jim Wilson, Scottish Government

Licensing 101 – offences and conduct

Stephen McGowan will continue his ‘101’ series by examining issues around offences and conduct under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and explore key concepts such as vicarious liability as well as issues around best practice in refusal of service.

Stephen McGowan, TLT LLP

Lawful consultation on licensing policy - a guide

Consultation on licensing policy is now a significant area of work and challenge for Licensing Boards and Local Authorities. In this presentation Scott will provide both an overview and detail on the expectations from the courts on how to go about a lawful consultation on licensing policy. He will cover the essential elements of lawful consultation,  but also the pitfalls and will include wider consultation issues, such as the impact of the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Scott Blair, Terra Firma Chambers

Gambling Act Update

This session will provide an in depth look at the recent changes to the Gambling Act 2005 and its accompanying legislation. We will cover what these changes mean on the ground for operators and what will be coming next, including various updates to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and premises inspections.

Amanda Usher, Woods Whur

Immigration and Licensing

Kevin Clancy, Shepperd and Wedderburn

Martyn's Law - the impact on licensed hospitality venues, sporting and large events in Scotland

Why did Martyn's Law come into force? What is the ‘Protect Duty’ and who does it apply to? What are the implications for sports stadia, entertainment spaces, hospitality and leisure venues and licensing applications in respect of them? Given the venue of this conference, this highly appropriate session will seek to provide some answers.

Niall Hassard, Hassard Licensing

Licensing and insolvency

In this session we will consider: what we mean by an “insolvency event”; the consequences for different types of licences when an insolvency event occurs; and what to do next for insolvency practitioners/licensing authorities/operators.

Andrew Hunter, Harper Macleod