R v Gaming Board for Great Britain, ex p. Benaim [1970] EWCA Civ 7
Citation:R v Gaming Board for Great Britain, ex p. Benaim [1970] EWCA Civ 7
Rule of thumb:When can you be denied the right to have a license to trade in a sector in the UK, such as open a casino or bookmakers? After there has been a proper due diligence done & clear reasons provided.
Judgment:
‘The statute says in terms that in determining whether to grant a certificate, the Board "shall have regard only" to the matters specified. It follows, I think, that the Board have a duty to act fairly. They must give the applicant an opportunity of satisfying them of the matters specified in the sub-section. They must let him know what their impressions are so that he can disabuse them. But I do not think that they need quote chapter and verse against him as if they were dismissing him from an office (Ridge v. Baldwin 1964 AC 40), or depriving him of his property, as in Cooper v. Wandsworth Board of Works (1863 14 C.B. (N.S.) 180). After all, they are not charging him with doing anything wrong. They are simply inquiring as to his capability and diligence and are having regard to his character, reputation and financial standing. They are there to protect the public interest, to see that persons running the gaming clubs are fit to be trusted. .. Seeing the evils that have led to this legislation, the Board can and should investigate the credentials of those who make application to them. They can and should receive information from the police in this country or abroad, who know something of them. They can, and should, receive information from any other reliable source. Much of it will be confidential. But that does not mean that the applicants are not to be given a chance of answering it. They must be given the chance, subject to this qualification? I do not think they need tell the applicant the source of their information, if that would put their informant in peril: or otherwise be contrary to the public interest. Even in a criminal trial, a witness cannot be asked who is his informer’. Lord Denning
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.