The Human Rights argument applied to live music is about 'balancing the right to a good night's sleep with the right to a good night out' (Jack Straw).

It's true that 'freedom of expression' might be countered with 'right to peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions' - both of which feature in the European Convention, and are covered by the Human Rights Act (HRA).

But where local authorities are in real danger of falling foul of the HRA is when they prevent live performance where there are no noise or safety concerns. The present law allows them to do that, and we know that this is common practice.

My argument is that such enforcement fails the strict 'proportionality' tests that must be passed (under the HRA) before local authorities may interfere with Convention rights, and would therefore be unlawful. Even the Home Office is prepared to concede this (off the record of course).

Using live music to discover all sorts of public safety problems in a pub is a neat way for the local authority to deflect attention from the fact that has failed to fulfil its statutory duty to inspect the premises under separate health and safety legislation.

FOG's story is very interesting - a good example of competing agendas within local authorities. Licensing departments appear not to understand that they share responsibility for creating the social and economic conditions in which everyone can 'participate freely in the cultural life of the community' (Article 27 Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

By the way, the 'three-in-a-bath' performance is definitely breaking the law! A £20,000 fine and six months in jail would seem reasonable.

I have not been able to gather much information from abroad except that in Ireland pubs without a live band are the exception (there is certainly no 'two-in-a-bar' rule), in the Netherlands it seems pubs and bars are allowed to put on unrestricted live music because they meet strict safety conditions anyway (mostly - there was a terrible fire in a bar just recently, although no live music was going on at the time). The jazz scene in France and Germany and the Netherlands is certainly healthier than here in the UK. I don't know what the folk scene is like though.