Habitual Drunkard - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition habitual-drunkard

Definition :

Habitual drunkard. Defined by the (English) Habitual Drunkards Act, 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. 19) (made perpetual by the Inebriates Act, 1888, and amended by the (English) Inebriates Acts, 1898 and 1899), which authorizes confinement in a retreat, upon the party's own application, as:-

A person who, not being amenable to any jurisdiction in lunacy, is notwithstanding, by reason of habitual intemperate drinking of intoxicating liquor, at times dangerous to himself or herself or to others, or incapable of managing himself or herself, and his or her affairs.

See also (English) Licensing Act, 1902, s. 5 (extended to drug addicts by 15 & 16 Geo. 5, c. 51, s. 3); Eaton v. Best, (1909) 1 KB 632; R. v. Briggs, ibid. 381; and DRUNKENNESS.