Alcohol Byelaw

Shetland Islands Council was given permission by the Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, to introduce a ban on the public consumption of alcohol with Lerwick, from Friday 2nd March 2007.

The alcohol byelaw makes it an offence to consume alcohol in a public place within the Lerwick Community Council area. However, there are a number of dates, which could be exempt from the provisions of the byelaw, such as Up Helly Aa and New Year. There is also the facility to have parts of what are normally defined as "public places" licenced under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, thereby allowing the consumption of alcohol in the specified, licenced area for the period of the licence.

It should be noted that nothing in the proposed byelaw detracts from, or interferes with, a persons right to consume alcohol on their own property, for exmaple, their garden. Nor would a person be prevented from purchasing alcohol from premises within the area and conveying it to a private place for consumption.

The maximum penalty for contravening the Byelaw would be a court fine of up to £500.

If you would like a poster advertising the alcohol byelaw for your shop or licensed premises then you can download one here.