FT/D/2025/0388 - [2025] UKFTT 01277 (GRC)

Role of the Tribunal

Section 131(1) of the Act provides that "A person who is aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar...(c)to remove his name from the register...may appeal to the First-tier Tribunal."

Section 131 (3) of the Act provides that the Tribunal may make such order:-

"(a)for the grant or refusal of the application

or,

(b)for the removal or the retention of the name in the register, or the revocation or continuation of the licence,

(as the case may be) as it thinks fit."

In considering the appeal the Tribunal must give appropriate weight to the Registrar's view. The Court of Appeal in Hope and Glory Public House Ltd, R (on the application of) v City of Westminster Magistrates Court & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 31 (26 January 2011) held that the answer to " How much weight was the district judge entitled to give to the decision of the licensing authority?" was:-

"45...the proper conclusion....can only be stated in very general terms. It is right in all cases that the magistrates' court should pay careful attention to the reasons given by the licensing authority for arriving at the decision under appeal, bearing in mind that Parliament has chosen to place responsibility for making such decisions on local authorities. The weight which the magistrates should ultimately attach to those reasons must be a matter for their judgment in all the circumstances, taking into account the fullness and clarity of the reasons, the nature of the issues and the evidence given on the appeal."

The Tribunal stands in the shoes of the Registrar and takes a fresh decision on the evidence available to it, giving appropriate weight to the Registrar’s Decision as the person tasked by the relevant legislation with making such decisions. It is not the role of the Tribunal to carry out a procedural review of the Registrar's decision-making process but it does need to consider all the circumstances. Our decision is reached on the balance of probabilities.