Mike Clewes will talk about aspects of the Magistrates Court

Mike explained that the normal way that normally law abiding citizens came into contact with the Magistrates Court was because of driving offences and usually because they had failed to correctly deal with a fixed penalty ticket for speeding. He advised

1. Whenever sending any documents to the Police, Courts or DVLA always send “Royal Mail Signed For”. The paperwork you get suggests just getting proof of postage but paperwork too often gets lost. If you have a signature you are in a much better position.
2. Always photocopy anything you send off.
3. If you get a fixed penalty notice and you committed the offence pay the fine and send off any documents as soon as possible – must be within 28 days.
4. If asked to give details of the driver do so within the time allowed – otherwise your penalty will be greater than the fixed penalty and probably more points on your licence.
5. If you don't get the original paperwork and later find you have been summoned to court or even worse dealt with in absence you have 21 days from first becoming aware of the situation to go to court and swear a statutory declaration saying that you did not know about the proceedings. Only do this if it is the truth or you could go to prison. This will overturn any proceedings but they will then be raised again while you are there in front of the magistrates.
6. If you have missed your deadline for the fixed penalty but you believe you have a strong mitigating reason always make sure you mark on the form that you send back that you want to appear in court in person. Mitigating circumstances are frequently not considered for people who want to plead guilty in absence.
7. Check how detailed your cover is for driving other vehicles. Too many end up in court through ignorance.
8. Only let somebody else drive your car when you know for certain that they are covered by insurance.
9. You must have insurance and road fund tax on any vehicle for which you are the registered keeper unless you complete a SORN notice and actually keep the vehicle off road and out of areas open to the public (e.g. car parks).
10. Don't rely on anybody else to send of your log book form to DVLA and make sure that you eventually get a receipt from them – it should arrive within 4 week.