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. Summary offences should only be restored for hearing if it is considered necessary to meet the justice of the particular case. In the great majority of cases the offence will fall within the second of these provisions. You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 . The expression 'on a road or other public place' is employed frequently in road traffic legislation. See. NIPs can also be issued . 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. However, since that offence is summary, if a defendant has been charged with other either way or indictable offences, then charging an offence under s.3 Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981(which is either way) is likely to be more appropriate. The driver must be given notice in writing specifying the reason for the prohibition and its duration. All who deal with cases where document production is made should be alive to the current sophistication of fraudulently produced material. 1 (1) Where section 1, 6, 11 or 12 (1) of this Act is shown in column 3 of this Schedule against a provision of the M1 Road Traffic Act 1988 specified in column 1, the section in question applies to an offence under that provision. Laying an information within the six months' time limit before deciding whether or not to prosecute may result in the proceedings being stayed as an abuse of process; see. Courts should be aware of the opportunity to proceed in the defendant's absence thereafter if either a satisfactory production is made, or the defendant does not cooperate and fails to return. Subsection (3) makes it an offence for the keeper to fail to comply. Section 170(2) RTA 1988 provides that the driver of the motor vehicle must stop and, if required to do so by any person having reasonable grounds for so requiring, give his name and address, the name and address of the owner of the vehicle and the identification marks of the vehicle. Notice of Intended Prosecution. The Notice of intended prosecution or NIP can either be given verbally at the time of the incident or in writing (i.e. Your Enquiry Details: (required) Even if you believe the S172 Notice does not relate to yourself, you MUST reply, this fulfils your legal obligation and allows the Police to further . A. Totting Up Penalty Points. "Intended or adapted for use on roads" is also not defined by statute and again is ultimately a matter for the court to decide based on the evidence before it. . 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. Attempting to or producing any document with intent to deceive may result in severe penalties. The words 'uses', 'causes' and 'permits' are deemed to have the same meaning for the purposes of the TA as they have for the purposes of the Road Traffic Acts. Errors in date, time, vehicle registration or speed, which are caused through clerical error, will not automatically render the notice invalid. 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. 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. . Learn more here . The vehicle caught speeding . Sometimes a similar document called a 'postal requisition' arrives instead. Failure to provide the information will result in court proceedings for that failure. A Notice of Intended Prosecution is exactly what it says - a warning that the driver of the vehicle is being considered for prosecution. Under current legislation, the Department for Transport considers Segway Personal Transporters as motor vehicles, subject to road traffic laws. Below is a brief summary of their obligations, time limits, potential loopholes to avoid prosecution and common myths. Fourthly and finally, the application of any statutory exemptions must be considered. There are many decided cases on various aspects of the provisions - see Wilkinson's Road Traffic Offences 28th Ed. If the notice was served late without a good reason then you can't be prosecuted anyway. A taxi driver who had a licence to ply for hire in Rossendale and whose insurance covered him for the carriage of passengers for hire or reward under a public hire licence was not guilty of having no insurance in spite of plying for hire in Oldham, to which his licence did not extend. We are regularly presented with the scenario when there is a degree of dubiety attached to . Motoring Offences and the Importance of Time Limits. The aim of this protocol is that motorists should be aware of and conform with an agreed national standard for the production of driving documents following a lawful request by a police officer. This guidance assists our prosecutors when they are making decisions about cases. It was held that a tachograph chart that had been falsified came within section 9(1)(g) of the Act when a record was being made during a period when there wrongly purported to be a second driver who was driving, when in fact there was only one driver at the wheel. In essence the Notice of Intended Prosecution is a document that specifies the nature of the offence and the time and place it is alleged to have been committed. 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. Such a warning need not be specific but must refer to one or more of the offences to which s.1 RTOA 1988 applies. For pelican/zebra crossings and puffin pedestrian crossings see the Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997 (SI 1997/2400). Such a warning is normally known as a "notice of intended prosecution", or NIP. . 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). Such a challenge should usually be considered only if the law was wrongly applied or the decision can be shown to be Wednesbury unreasonable. This is an either way offence; Section 66 Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 - the making of a false statement to obtain such a document. 9/ If the S172 notice is valid (ie not sent after the time limit) or perhaps in any case, you should tell the police that you have no idea, after this length of time, who was driving. Motorists will be encouraged to obtain proper documentation before driving a motor vehicle on the road, thereby increasing the safety of other road users. 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. The law (Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988) requires that, for a person to be convicted of certain road traffic offences, he or she must. For example, such a situation may arise where the outstanding summary offence is a drink/drive allegation where the accused is liable to a three-year disqualification following a previous conviction. If the company did have such a system but it didnt work on a particular occasion that might suffice as a defence. A Notice of Intended Prosecution puts a legal obligation on the registered keeper of the vehicle. Where a summons or requisition has been issued in respect of an offence mentioned in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule, proceedings for that offence cease to be specified when the summons or requisition is served on the accused unless the defendant is also served with a statement of facts and written statement/s. The driver will then receive a notice of intended prosecution in his/her own name. The exceptions include: Section 24 RTOA 1988 (as amended by the Road Safety Act 2006) allows a court which has returned a verdict of 'not guilty' to certain either way and summary offences, to convict for a specified alternative offence, provided that the content of the information or indictment amounts to an allegation of such an offence. They are normally sent out when there is about 7 days of the original time limit remaining. Proceedings for an offence mentioned in the Schedule also cease to be specified if a magistrates court indicates that it is considering imposing a custodial sentence for the offence. If you're caught speeding by a speed camera, you'll be sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) and a Section 172 notice within 14 days of the alleged offence. The offence under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968, but only if it is the prosecutor's case that the offence constitutes low-value shoplifting within the meaning of section 22A(3) of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980. In the . It does not mean the driver has 24 hours within which to report the collision. Such a certificate is deemed under sub-section (4) to have been so signed unless the contrary is proved. . It can be done by way of a summons served on the offender within 14 days of commission of the offence or by a notice of intended prosecution (NIP). Not only does the offence appear to cover a situation where the seals have been physically altered or tampered with, but also the use of a correctly manufactured and correctly placed seal where it can be proved that the mere use of the seal is accompanied by an intention to deceive. "Road" is defined at s.142 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as any length of highway or other road to which the public has access and includes bridges over which a road passes. There was no proper notice of the speed limit. Start now. This is why I believe the Notice of Intended Prosecution is outside of the 14 day limit. The Codes of Practice under PACE apply to offences under this legislation as to any other. This may be by direct notification to the relevant police process office for transmission to the court or CPS office, and may include a written acknowledgement given to the person making production, which can be produced at court. . pursuant to section 6 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. there was sufficient evidence in my opinion to warrant proceedings against: pursuant to the provisions of section 6 of the said Act. 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 .
