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Section 6 applies to the following offences under RTA 1988: Section 37 of the Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001 amends the time limit in the Theft Act. if evidence of excess alcohol has been adduced at the Crown Court trial, it is more than likely that it will have been taken into account for the purpose of sentencing (this will obviously be so in the case of a trial for a section 3A offence); where a defendant has been convicted of an offence contrary to sections 1 or 3A RTA, a summary offence should not normally be restored if the defendant has been disqualified for a period at least as long as the obligatory period for the summary offence; the lapse of time between the date of the offence, the Crown Court trial and the likely date of hearing for the summary matters; if the defendant has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment, restoration of a summary offence will seldom be appropriate. As self-balancing scooters are mechanically propelled they require registration and a vehicle registration licence (tax disc). In Skills Motor Coaches Ltd, Farmer, Burley and Denman (Case C-297/99), the European Court of Justice held that time spent on activities having a bearing on driving, such as time spent reaching the pick-up point for a tachograph vehicle, would affect his state of tiredness and must be regarded as forming part of 'all other periods of work' within Article 15 of Regulation No. The 'prosecutor' for the purposes of section 6 can be the investigating officer or the informant (see [1976] 140 JP Jo., 675; Swan v Vehicle Inspectorate [1997] RTR 187. Summary offences should only be restored for hearing if it is considered necessary to meet the justice of the particular case. In R v Derwentside Justices ex parte Heaviside [1996] RTR 384 the Court specified three ways in which a defendant could be proved to have been disqualified: Other circumstances in which the court has been satisfied that a previous disqualification has been established are as follows. You can check whether . It is important to note, however, that it is only the registered keeper that is required to receive such a warning . Police across England and Wales will send out many . You have been summoned to attend court for either not having one or more documents, as required, for using a motor vehicle on a road (or public place). A sample notice is attached at Annex A below. Under section 6(3) a certificate signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor, stating the date on which the necessary evidence came to his knowledge is conclusive evidence of that fact. . The minimum penalty for speeding or running a red-light is a 100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence. If you have received a notice of intended prosecution you may be wondering what it is, read on. What happens after a notice of intended prosecution? In this case the appellant appealed by way of case stated against a decision that the prosecutor's certificate issued under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 was conclusive and that he could not argue that the prosecution was out of time. Under s.143(1)(a) RTA 1988 "a person must not use a motor vehicle on a road or other public place unless there is in force in relation to the use of that vehicle by that person a policy of insurance ". It will often be appropriate to prosecute for both this offence and for careless driving as a result of the same incident of driving. No member of the Crown Prosecution Service or agent acting for them, or member of the magistrates' court staff should ordinarily be required to inspect or verify a motorist's driving documents relevant to a prosecution before the court. You have 28 days to appeal your recorded police warning. However, that course can be taken where the other offences are serious and are liable to result in a substantial term of imprisonment or period of disqualification, or the defendant has already been sentenced to a lengthy term of imprisonment in any event. If the document is not listed, proceedings under regulation 7 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1971 for exhibiting on a vehicle anything which could be mistaken for a licence may be considered. Single Justice Procedure Notice. Age prohibitions on driving are set out in s.101 RTA 1988. Insurance cover is required for the use of a vehicle on a road or a public place. We are only a phone call away. third party insurance. A Notice of Intended Prosecution (also known as a section 1 warning) is a warning issued under section 1 of the Road Traffic (Offenders) Act 1988. . Section 97(1) TA 1968 which is summary only, prohibits the use of a vehicle to which the TA 1968 applies in which "recording equipment" as stipulated in the Community Recording Equipment Regulations 3821/85 has either not been fitted or has not been appropriately repaired. Then in the first paragraph it lists the incident date as 04/12/22. These are referred to as disqualification of persons under age. Failure to provide the relevant information may result in prosecution and the punishment could be worse than for the speeding offence. The 14-day requirement only applies to the first NIP sent. It is no defence for a person disqualified in their absence to claim that they did not know that they had been disqualified. It requires the keeper to provide the police with the name of the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged motoring offence. For further commentary see (Wilkinson's 6.01). Further guidance can be found in Wilkinsons Road Offences (29th Edition Chapter 10). In deciding whether to rely on the extended time limit, the prosecutor should ensure that he/she is able to ascertain the date on which sufficient evidence to warrant proceedings came to the knowledge of a police officer investigating the incident, since this is a requirement of the procedure. Driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink or drugs (section 4(1) RTA), Driving or attempting to drive with excess alcohol in breath, blood or urine (section 5(1)(a) RTA), and, where the Crown Court has made specific reference to matters which it has taken into account when sentencing, the prosecution should not revive or continue with summary offences the substance of which has been reflected in such a sentence. Arrangements should be made for the relevant officer to attend at the adjourned hearing to inspect and note any documentation produced. . For this reason, it is best to seek legal advice before completing a Notice of Intended Prosecution. The Notice of Intended Prosecution time limit of 28 days can incur harsh penalties of a fine up to 1,000 and six penalty points on a driver's licence if not dealt with inside the 28 day time constraints. Other legal requirements relate to construction and use, and to lighting. An analogy can be drawn from the case of DPP v Hay where it was held that once the prosecution has proved that the defendant drove the motor vehicle on a road, it is then for the defendant to show that he held a driving licence and that there was in force an appropriate policy of insurance, since these are matters that are peculiarly within his knowledge. Where there is a conviction for careless driving the lesser offence of failing to conform should be preserved at least until the chance of a reversal of the careless driving conviction has passed. Subsection (3) makes it an offence for the keeper to fail to comply. In cases of the unauthorised taking of mechanically propelled vehicles, delay can often occur due to the gathering of forensic evidence where the offence is denied. A notice of intended prosecution can be served for a range of driving offences, ranging from speeding to careless driving. Contravening a traffic signal. If your defence is that you did not receive it within this timescale, the onus is on you to prove it on the balance of probabilities. Production of driving documents at the police station in the first instance must be encouraged. . However, to establish this defence, it is not sufficient for the defendant merely to show that the breaking or removal of the seal could not have been avoided by himself; he must show that the breaking or removal of the seal could not have been avoided in itself (Vehicle Inspectorate v Sam Anderson (Newhouse) Ltd [2002] RTR 13). This is an either way offence; Section 115(2) Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 - making a false statement to obtain a parking authorisation. It is no defence that the driver failed to see the sign. 3821/85. This is an either way non-endorsable offence, punishable summarily by a fine or by imprisonment (maximum two years) on indictment. Where a driver has obtained a policy of insurance by deception, the policy will be valid so far as liability under s.143 RTA 1988 is concerned until the insurers have taken steps to "avoid" it. It appears to an officer that an offence has been committed under section 99(5) in respect of the vehicle or its driver. Section 103 RTA 1988 - see (Wilkinson's 11-71 to 11-79). The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Specified Proceedings) Order 1999 specifies proceedings for the offences set out in the Schedule (see Annex B) for the purposes of s.3 Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 if those proceedings are commenced by the prosecution so as to give an opportunity of pleading guilty by post under s.12 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (MCA 1980). Additionally it may not be in the best interest of the court to prosecute Directors (solely to get points put on a licence). The statutory time limit for commencing proceedings is 6 months after the date of the alleged offence. The following points need to be borne in mind: The six-month time limit applies to most summary road traffic offences, but statutory exceptions do occur. This offence may often overlap with other statutory offences, namely: When considering the proper charge the prosecutor should consider the appropriate venue for trial. Notice of Intended Prosecution. The phrase "any person" includes, but is not limited to, limited companies or, depending upon evidential criteria, officers of such a company. The offences arising by contravention of Regulations 3(9)(a) (involving a pedal cycle) and 3(9)(b) and 4(27), (28) and (30) of the Royal and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997. If the requirement to provide this information is not complied with, a . The Transport Act 1968 does not apply to any other part of the EC, including Northern Ireland. Notice of Intended Prosecution. A. Totting Up Penalty Points. Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) If you were not stopped by the Police and cautioned at the time of the offence, because for example your offence is one where the evidence has been obtained by camera, before any further action can be taken, the Police or Process Department, must serve a Notice of Intended Prosecution, commonly known as a . If the prosecution is taken by surprise by the issue, an application to adjourn to call a witness can be made - see R on the application of. It is usually not appropriate to challenge the decision as it involves the exercise of discretion as the Administrative (Divisional) Court is unlikely to interfere if all relevant matters were properly considered. Prejudice to a defendant by the delay and the lack of early notification of the impending prosecution can be addressed by abuse of process proceedings and s. 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. The Police Sent Section 172 Notice and Notice of Intended Prosecution to the Wrong Address! Where special reasons are put forward in cases of drink and driving, the court must consider the following factors, see Chatters v Burke [1986] 3 All ER 168: In DPP v Bristow [1998] RTR 100 the Divisional Court stated that the key question justices should ask themselves when assessing if such special reasons existed on which they might decide not to disqualify was this: what would a sober, reasonable and responsible friend of the defendant, present at the time, but himself a non-driver and thus unable to help, have advised in the circumstances, to drive or not to drive? . Mere passive acquiescence is not enough - see Redhead Freight Ltd v Shulman [1989] RTR 1. Section 99A TA 1968 gives police and vehicle examination officers the power to prohibit the driving of a UK registered passenger or goods vehicle. The general time limit for injury litigation is three years, with multiple exceptions and special cases. A. Magistrates & Crown Court Trials. address the court, after the defence, on matters of law and should remind the court that there is a two stage process: first, to determine whether there are special reasons and, second, if there are special reasons, to consider whether to exercise the courts discretion not to endorse or disqualify (or to disqualify for a shorter period that the usual tariff of twelve months), Section 137 Highways Act 1980 (wilful obstruction of the highway), Regulation 103 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 - (causing or permitting a vehicle to stand on a road so as to cause an unnecessary obstruction), Section 22 RTA 1988 (leaving vehicles in a dangerous position), Offences under the Criminal Damage Act 1971. If you do in fact have any documents that would cover your use of the vehicle on the road at the time you were asked to produce them, you must, as soon as possible, take immediate steps to produce them at the police station you originally selected when the police officer asked you to choose one (this police station will be called the nominated police station from now on). The duty to stop means to stop sufficiently long enough to exchange the particulars above: (Lee v Knapp [1966] 3 All ER 961). . Everyone knows that speeding is illegal but according to a recent study, a driver is caught speeding every 75 seconds in the UK, with the average driver going almost 10mph over the limit. A notice of intended prosecution issued by post must identify the time, date, place and nature of the offence. Some 'routine' prosecutions, for example under the Construction and Use Regulations and related provisions of the Road Traffic Act (RTA) 1988, may have special significance for the traffic commissioners when dealing with licensing applications from heavy goods vehicle operators. Many factors must be taken into consideration before the court even begins to consider exercising that discretion. Offences are either way, punishable by way of fine in the Magistrates' Court or by imprisonment (maximum two years) in the Crown Court. In Cantabrica Coach Holdings Ltd v Vehicle Inspectorate [2000] RTR 286, the Divisional Court held that: Tachograph charts and other documents can be obtained in many different ways, for example: Care should be taken in checking the power by which police officers obtained the documents. This penalty notice is called a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). The Notice of intended prosecution or NIP can either be given verbally at the time of the incident or in writing (i.e. . It showed that the bike had been ridden at very high speed in traffic and the rider had done wheelies. . The offence under section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875. The police should regularly update the CPS and court staff of any local or national criminal activity with regard to motoring documents and their use. Section 1 RTOA 1988 provides that a defendant cannot be convicted of certain road traffic offences set out in schedule 1 RTOA 1988 unless he or she has been warned that the question of prosecution would be taken into consideration. When determining the public interest in prosecuting minor road traffic offences, it must be borne in mind that: Public interest factors which relate to particular offences will be dealt with below. It will normally be accompanied with a requirement to provide the details of the driver of the vehicle. At its most basic level it is a vehicle which can be propelled by mechanical means. The burden of establishing an exemption under the Community Drivers' Hours and Recording Equipment (Exemptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 1986 rests on the defendant on a balance of probabilities - Gaunt and Another vNelson [1987] RTR 1. it was clear that in requiring the production of records the Community legislature took account of the need to ensure effective checking; while there was no express power to require the coach operator to hand over tachograph records to the Vehicle Inspectorate, the operator was nevertheless required to produce and hand over such records on demand if such a request was made to him; it was within the discretion of the authorised officer whether he chose to inspect the records at the operator's premises or take them away for more thorough and detailed analysis; the authorised officer should also permit the operator to take copies of any record he proposed to remove from the operator's premises. A useful starting point to determine what rules apply to a particular vehicle on a particular journey is to establish, firstly, whether the Transport Act 1968 applies to the vehicle under s.95(2) TA 1968. . Whether such a warning was given "at the time" is a question of degree and the High Court will not interfere in a Magistrates' Court finding on the point if there is evidence to support that finding. If the keeper is uncertain who was driving their vehicle they may still guilty of an offence unless they either provide the name of the driver or . However under Subsection (6) the company must prove that as well as not being able to identify the driver using reasonable diligence it must show that it did not keep a record of who was driving the vehicle and that the failure to keep such records was reasonable. McCombe LJ said, delivering the judgment of the court: if the restriction is rendered ineffective by the operation of s.148 then the policy is to be read, as it seems to me, as if that restriction was treated as deleted in blue pencil from its wording.. In Vehicle Inspectorate v Nuttall [1999] Crim LR 674, the House of Lords held that the Community rules placed a responsibility on employers to use tachograph records to prevent contraventions and to promote road safety. Assessment of the role played by each person in the company/operator in the case of large scale prosecutions; Whether there has been systematic flouting of the law resulting in widespread falsification of records endorsed by management. Local arrangements should be agreed for the speedy and efficient notification to the court that acceptable, or otherwise, production has been made. Should any defendant refuse to co-operate with the above procedure, not guilty pleas should be noted, and the case adjourned for trial or review. The offences under sections 3 , 17(2) , 18(3) , 24(3) , 26(1) and (2) , 29 , 31(1) , 35 , 42(b) , 47(1) , 87(2) , 143 , 163 , 164(6) and (9) , 165(3) and (6) , 168 , 170 and 172(3) RTA 1988. The term 'motor vehicle' is defined in section 185(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and section 136(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as "a mechanically propelled vehicle, intended or adapted for use on roads". A NIP can be issued verbally to the driver at the time of the offence or in written form 14 days from the date of the offence. This is not the case so far as the employers or persons in authority are concerned. Here's everything you need to know and if you receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution. The duty to report means 'as soon as reasonably practicable': (Bulman v Bennett [1974] RTR 1). Self-balancing scooters are not classed as "invalid carriages" and so cannot be used on pavements. So long as the information is laid within six months, the issue and service of the summons and the subsequent determination may all occur outside that period. The prosecution should not seek to secure convictions on both. If you do not receive it within 14 days, any prosecution may be considered invalid. A notice of intended prosecution can be given: Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988) offences to which s.1 RTOA 1988 applies include: Section 2 RTOA 1988 states that the prosecution does not have to comply with s.1 RTOA 1988 if, owing to the presence on a road of a vehicle in respect of which the offence was committed, an accident occurred at the time of the offence or immediately afterwards. All staff, including agents, and magistrates who deal with motoring cases should receive training so that they may be aware of the terms of this protocol. Liability for these offences falls upon the "Driver" (for the Domestic Rules) or the 'Offender' (for the European Community Rules). Call us on 0161 834 9494 to discuss your case. Section 65 Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 - the forgery or alteration of a licence, certificate or operator's disc issued under the Act, likewise the use with intent to deceive of anything resembling such a document. There is no direct binding authority on the definition of a 'false chart', but it is suggested that the following elements should be present: See also the decision of the Court of Appeal in R v Bishirgian, Howeson and Hardy [1936] 1 All ER 586 at page 591 and R v Osman, Mills and Chalker 09/01/93 (unreported, but copy of judgement held at HQ Library). We are regularly presented with the scenario when there is a degree of dubiety attached to . According to section 1 of the Road Traffic OffendersAct 1998, the 14-day limit means the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) needs to be served onthe registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days. Certain exceptions do apply however where it can be shown that the keeper did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle was (S172.4). The police should give consideration to training CPS and court staff in the methods used to produce fraudulent documents and have an agreed method of responding to any such documents that are produced in legal proceedings. However, the Divisional Court held that the purported restriction fell within s.148(2)(e) and was therefore void. Plus, a document called a Section 172 notice. Where a substantial proportion of a company's operating records for a given period have been the subject of falsification and management are involved, it is almost always the proper course to recommend that the case should be dealt with on indictment. note part 19 of the Criminal Procedure Rules (Expert Evidence) and secure expert evidence where the defence expert's statement is incorrect, inconclusive or misleading. Help us to improve our website;let us know Where agreeable, and in the absence of any grounds for suspicion, it may be possible to agree (such agreement to include that of the defendant) the use of a facsimile copy or the documents to be sent to an agreed police station for verification and recording to take place while the case is stood down temporarily. R. 16; and Olakunori v DPP [1998] C.O.D. On appeal, the court did not accept that a prosecution could not proceed because of a lack of warning of prosecution where police become aware of the offence after 14 days had passed.