Bouncers - A Legal Free-for-all

By Kurt Sansone

Strange but true, the controversy surrounding night club bouncers has not yet moved the Minister of Home Affairs to set rules to the business. Night club bouncers don't need a licence. It's a legal free for all.

In a reply to questions made by MaltaToday the police referred this newspaper to the Private Guards and Local Wardens Act, which states that the only persons requiring a licence are those employed with security agencies.

The law specifically states that security personnel directly employed whether on a full time, part time or casual basis by places of entertainment are excluded from the provisions of the law requiring such people to be licensed. If a place of entertainment engages the services of a specialised security agency the bouncers would have to be licensed but if the night club owners employ the bouncers directly no licence is required.

Bouncer licensing would be required under the law if and when the Minister makes the rules. The police were blunt about it: ‘so far no such provisions have been made.’

Last month's bouncer incidents have brought the issue high up on the agenda Yet MaltaToday's entertainment industry sources say that night club owners are wary of any move to license bouncers. Almost all clubs employ their own security personnel without involving private agencies.

By employing bouncers themselves, clubs end up forking out less money. What's more, a number of clubs employ shady characters or police officers to act as bouncers, in either case they wouldn't qualify for a licence. The Police Commissioner vets all licence applications and may refuse to issue licences to policemen and soldiers.

The present legal free-for-all looks like cosy self-regulation. Making bouncers subject to licence conditions would give them something to lose, some of their patrons a better chance of getting home in one piece and the Minister a job to do.