MPs Pass Bill To Make ID Checks Mandatory
The Liquor Licence Amendment Bill 2014 — which seeks to make ID checks mandatory before selling alcohol or allowing entry into licensed premises — passed in the House of Assembly yesterday [Mar 5]. The bill passed with support from both sides of the aisle, and will now head to the Senate and must also receive the Governor’s assent before becoming law.
The Liquor Licence Amendment Bill 2014 — as tabled in the House on Feb. 14 — is below [PDF here]
Sounds fair
And who, I dare ask, is going to Police this? You can pass whatever you like, it still won’t stop aceboy or acegirl from selling to their friends.
What you need to make mandatory is checking IDs when a credit card is used. How many cases have we seen before the courts where people have gone on thousand dollar shopping sprees with stolen cards?
Although, my question would apply there too. Who would police it?
Chip and PIN technology goes a long way to reducing credit card fraud (much more effective than IDs)
Still has huge loophole.
Which is?
Appears to be a minor.
Not if the bartender wants to avoid a large fine.
Reminds me of the seat belt law.
Legislation for legislation sake.
Yes, & the yapping on the phone while driving law. Enforcement of that one seems to have gone by the wayside.
This one is a nuisance but it is there & it can be enforced. It can also be very easily circumvented by an adult buying the drinks. Not much will change. No matter the age. If you have the money, somebody will get the drink for you.
@ Triangle Drifter,
The adult lol? Aren’t you suppose to be an adult to get into a location that sells alcohol?
Have you not been into a restaurant with a liquor license with kids? They walk in with an adult. Nothing illegal there. Same adult buys the alcoholic drink. How are you going to stop it?
By asking to see the persons ID if you think they are being supplied alcohol.
Then again, only a fool would overstep.
they should have been doing this all along. i am good and over the age to get into anywhere and i get asked for id all the time. yet if i dress half naked i don’t get asked for id. those guards need training and i hope they actually check id now its frustrating!
Typical Bermudians. If a person or persons is caught selling booze to an under age person thats a $10,000 fine n ur license will be taken away from that business. SO if caught do u think the average bartender has $10,000 to just throw away like that.
Don’t serve underage persons and you won’t be subject to a $10k fine. Then the bartender won’t have to ‘throw away’ $10k.
Simple solution to a simple problem.
Really not that hard to figure out.
There is a simple process to close the possible loophole. If the bar/nightclub really want to stop underage drinking, just implement a disposable ID wristband program. The wristband would be issued for all patrons that show a valid ID at the entrance of the club/bar. The bar would only sell liquor to those with the wristband. This is not rocket science as it is implemented all over the U.S. I remember going to a nightclub in Orlando and they did not recognize my license. Although I was in my late 20′s, they told me I could enter the club but I couldn’t drink any alcohol. Who would pay for the wristbands? These IDs are so common, you could place advertising on them. This has been way overdue.
I wonder if my second home is going to id me from now on……. not the bartenders don’t know me on a first name basis.
A party of 4 sits down at a table. 1 is underage but could pass for 18. A round of drinks is ordered, 1 of them non alcoholic. What stops 1 of the alcoholic drink being passed to the underage person after the waiter/waitress has left?
How can busy staff possibly keep track of who is drinking what once it hits the table? Chances are the bartender or manager cannot see even if they were not busy.
If anyone needs to be held accountable it should be the adult buying the drink for the minor.
My question would be who polices it. Last I checked the BPS only had the tall Scottish fella doing the liquor licensing duties. Bout time we followed other areas and had licensed premises monitored by an independant body.
Am I reading this correctly? Bars and night clubs will now have to check the ID of EVERYONE entering, and not just those who appear to be minors? So as a 60-year old, I won’t be let into a bar unless I have ID and can prove I’m over 18??? Well, that should certainly help us get tourism back on its feet – the tourists will love it! I don’t know of any other country in the world (where alcohol is legal) that has a law like this – and what was Minister Dunkley saying about Boston? What a crock, I have NEVER once been carded in Boston, that’s absolute rubbish. Good luck, this is going to be a disaster – another one of those ill thought-through laws that has been passed without really thinking about the consequences. Yet we still do nothing to curtail drunk driving…..
How is this going to be a disaster? I know whenever I go out in New York, Florida and London they have technology at the door that scans your ID for other security reasons other than age. I do not find it a problem.
People complain about any and everything now days. Get over it.
Old Person, that is not how the law is written. Suggest you read it. Bernews has reproduced it above. They only have to seek ID from people who appear to be minors.
everyone talking about wrist bands on patrons when they enter a bar. In the US they give a certain color arm band to those that are 21 that are able to drink and a certain color to those that are 18. In Bermuda if you not 18 your not getting in simple as that.
First of all..it says “appears”,,,,,, have you seen how some of these girls dress???
Secondly most bars do this anyway…
However, if you really want to cracked down on underage drinking…how about fine the person knowingly breaking the law…The 16-17 year old whom at that age very well knows what they are trying to get away with….
$5000 fine plus mandatory participation in AA classes…
MY GOD? the plp/biu had NO OBJECTIONS and went along with govt. There is a fairy god mother, Anything to stop the youngsters getting in a bar is a step in the right direction.
Good Idea… Common sense – long overdue!!! Also, as they do in the USA and other countries… Make the Bar or Club responsible if they continue to break-the-laws of the country – and serve “booze” to underage drinkers – particularly if they are over-the-limit!!!
How would *ANYONE* feel if an underage drunk or any drunk – got into or on a vehicle and then “Killed” one-of-your-family???
It’s NOT *rocket Science*!!!
Agreed !!
Out of all the things we could take from any country this is in the top 5 …
archaic…what bars need are facial recognition ,straight to a national police data base ,it would be quite helpful if the “Jackel”,ever walked in there,same for airport,and cruise lines andcustoms at yacht inspection apon first entry.Police patrol should have database facial recog. applied to their personal cameras and cell phone apps………..it is now 2014….let our faciloes reflect thusely.
that is…if this is seriously a consideration…you would be able to know where sex offenders are, people likey to cause bodily harm,…tied into an interpole database and you might find people within the frame work of our society who may be perloin to lawful persuit…dna should be added…retinal id….oh hell…stool sample if need be…
If this wasn’t a law already, not I’m surprised. Out of all the laws passed in the last 2 decades this should have been number one. How did we not look at this before we opened up liquor sales Sunday’s ??
Can we enforce mandatory I.D’s of some sort voter’s card, library card, school I.D. driver’s license etc??
At a certain hour 15 year olds should be under adult supervision and thats it; At 16 years of age those who have a bike license have curfew of 12 am … The purpose of a I.D. is for identification; May it be an accident, loitering or being carded for proof of age;Improving awareness assures two years of practice using an I.D.; 16 year olds are legal to ride 50 cc but not drink or drive. Turning 18 you are now legal drink drive & ride. So at that point you should be use to being carded for something.
Now what about the grocery store or liquor store?? This is different again they have a better chance of eliminating the liability of under age drinking. This way there consequences are extremely different. Anyone with or without I.D. can purchase liquor at a grocery store. Then hand over the liquor over to the under age drinker. Eg. Same goes for cigarettes …
Identification for entering club; This is a chance to combat unwanted characters & under age party goers. So I agree with the wrist ban idea it is effective as long the DOORMAN/SECURITY does their JOB. The BARTENDER has a difficult JOB in combating that after entering the club …
Please try to include other services so we can all be on the same page with our islands terms of conditions.
First off, I am not a lawyer, therefore my understanding of what is written in legal jargon could be completely wrong. Should that be the case, I apologise in advance, and anyone who can clarify this, well thank you.
I read the attached pdf, and I don’t actually see where the identification checks have now become “mandatory”.
It appears to me, that should a member of bar staff “think that someone appears to be a minor”, they are to ask that person for identification. If this is the case, then this has been a complete waste of time. Therefore, should underage individuals be in a licensed establishment, the bar staff simply have to state, “the underage individuals did not appear to be minors.”
A solution would be to make identification checks mandatory. This would mean that the onus is on the staff to check identification of anyone that they suspect is underage (while also not necessarily having to check the id of anyone who they believe is of age) as there will be repercussions.