A loophole in Scotland's new liquor laws, previously described as a "hoodlums' charter" and potentially opening the doors of the licensed trade to criminality, has been closed just a year before they fully come into effect.

After being ditched by the previous administration, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has reinstated the "fit and proper person" test, which gives the police the right to object to a licensee without having to show criminal convictions.

Under the proposed law, anyone anywhere had the right to object to a licence - except the police, unless they could prove the applicant was involved in "serious organised crime" and had a recent, relevant conviction.

Civil servants had believed the fit and proper test to be too subjective and susceptible to legal challenges.

But the overwhelming view of the trade, police, lawyers and licensing boards was that the system had worked well and that dropping the fit and proper test could allow the licensing system to be manipulated by criminals.

The proposed change would have prevented the police from objecting to someone who had been charged with an offence but not yet appeared in court or airing concerns based solely on intelligence gathering.

The architect of the bill which led to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson, has even publicly mocked how politicians and civil servants acted on his advice, claiming the police would be unable to object if someone was involved in "serious but disorganised or organised but not very serious crime".

Announcing the reinstatement at a conference in Aviemore this week, Mr MacAskill said the government had been "persuaded that the police have made the case that the removal of the fit and proper person test was a mistake".

He added: "There are some people who should not be allowed to sell alcohol. The fit and proper person test gave police the right to give information to help licensing boards identify these individuals.

"I have decided that the fit and proper person test was a loss to the licensing system and so I will reinstate the necessary police powers."

Assistant Chief Constable William Skelly, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) spokesman on licensing, said: "Acpos's view has always been that a chief constable should have the power to place all relevant information before a licensing board."

Jack Cummins, a licensing law specialist who raised the "hoodlums' charter" concerns almost three years ago, said: "Many commentators thought it odd that an licensing application in Glasgow could conceivably be objected to by a Free Church Minister in Stornoway or the Temperance Society of Saskatchewan, while the chief constable is only entitled to oppose an application if he had reason to believe that serious organised crime was involved."