Frequently Asked Questions | Honest John A NIP is intended to warn you that you are going to be prosecuted for a driving offence. There is a duty on a person who chooses to drive to ensure that he or she is entitled to do so. As far as management responsibility is concerned subsection (5) of the act says that where a director or senior manager of the company caused or connived with the failure to identify the driver, that person is also guilty. 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. . Speeding: 'I can't be prosecuted - there's a postal strike!', by Tim "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. This power to prohibit the driving of UK passenger and goods vehicles rectifies the previous anomaly whereby only the driving of foreign registered vehicles could be prohibited by virtue of the provisions of the Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972. Hi Jo, I have received a NIP over 14 days later the offence (speeding), I wrote the following letter of appeal, Could you please check if it is correct? For further commentary see (Wilkinson's 6.01). Notice of intended prosecution loopholes and how they can backfire There has, however, been extensive case law on the subject and the main point that emerges is what is known as the reasonable man test as per the following cases: Personal transporters, such as the Segway Personal Transporter are powered by electricity and transport a passenger standing on a platform propelled on two or more wheels. They are normally sent out when there is about 7 days of the original time limit remaining. Stephen Oldham Solicitors | Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP Your Enquiry Details: (required) 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. The Registered Keeper (RK) of the vehicle will receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) within 14 days of the offence. Many factors must be taken into consideration before the court even begins to consider exercising that discretion. Failure to produce your documents at the police station may well result in additional loss and inconvenience to you, and led to an application for additional prosecution costs for the extra work involved. It is important to note, however, that only the registered keeper requires to receive such a warning within 14 days. Proof of disqualification is essential. 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. Driving Offence Solicitors | Pragma Law 14 July 2015 at 5:34PM. The following are the matters listed: (a) the age or physical or mental condition of persons driving 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. If the requirement to provide this information is not complied with, a . If the vehicle is a company car, the police will send the first notice to . At its most basic level it is a vehicle which can be propelled by mechanical means. There is a clear public interest in prosecuting offenders. The letter is asking me to provide details of the driver of the vehicle. 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. Arrangements will then be made for the court to be informed about this. Police across England and Wales will send out many . When the prosecutor considers instituting proceedings within the extended time limit period, reasons for the delay and any degree of responsibility borne by the offender should be taken into account. In the Gidden case the High Court had to decide whether a notice of intended prosecution should be regarded as having been properly served where the notice was sent by first class ordinary post on a date that would normally lead to it being delivered within the 14-day time limit but where the court was satisfied that it was in fact delivered . The driver of the vehicle has failed to comply with a requirement made under s.99(1) TA 1968; or, The driver has obstructed an officer exercising his powers under s.99(2) TA 1968 or s.99(3) TA1968; or, It appears to an officer that in relation to the vehicle or its driver there has been (or will be, if the vehicle is driven on a road) a contravention of s.96 TA1968 to s.98 TA 1968 or of the applicable Community rules; or. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'road' as a line of communication for use of foot passengers and vehicles; while in Oxford v Austin [1981] RTR 416 it was said to be a definable right of way between two points. 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. It may then be possible for your case to be dealt with in your absence, but only if you have been offered this opportunity in the other documents that are with the summons and you return the necessary documents to the court in time with the required details. The prohibition may be applied for a specified period, or without limitation of time. A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) / Requirement for Driver details (172) must be completed and returned within 28 days of the date on the form. 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. Liability for these offences falls upon the "Driver" (for the Domestic Rules) or the 'Offender' (for the European Community Rules). Legal aid Scotland may be able to help in your case, one of our lawyers will . 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. Dangerous driving. Under s.96(11)(b) TA 1968 liability also falls upon "any other person (being that driver's employer or a person to whose order the driver was subject) who caused or permitted the contravention". In serious cases a conspiracy charge should be considered; Whether persons who might be guilty of the offence or offences such as office staff and drivers should be used as witnesses where they have been threatened with the sack unless they continue to act illegally. Avon and Somerset Police The Notice of intended prosecution or NIP can either be given verbally at the time of the incident or in writing (i.e. Dear Camera and Tickets office, Notice of Intended Prosecution: 0353050313275720 I write to acknowledge receipt of your Notice of Intended Prosecution above-referenced dated 06/08/2021, which mentions the alleged offence dated 26/06/2021 and . They must provide the details of the driver at the time of the alleged offence. 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. The law relating to tachographs falls into two categories: The rules governing the mechanical operation of tachographs are set out in EEC Regulation 3821/85 and that covering the hours permitted are set out in Regulation (EC) 561/2006. The duty to determine whether any documents produced are valid does not pass to any other agency where a motorist fails to produce the required driving documents to a police officer on demand or at a nominated police station. Know your possible technical defences to protect your licence. Where a summons is issued for failure to produce, the defendant may attempt to produce his documents at court. It is enough that it is received by a member of his staff impliedly authorised to receive it. Subsection (4) provides a defence if the Keeper shows that he did not know who the driver was and could not have found out by using reasonable diligence. Motorists are required to produce their documents to a police officer on demand or at a nominated police station within 7 days. what you think by taking our short survey, Reality TV star Stephen Bear has been sentenced to 21 months imprisonment today for voyeurism and two counts of, A Chelsea supporter has been banned from football for three years for a racially aggravated public order offence, The CPS has authorised the @metpoliceuk to charge Constance Marten and Mark Gordon with gross negligence manslau, Coming up in the next edition of our community newsletter: Notice of Intended Prosecution - What Happens Next? 2023 Limitation periods in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia If different issues are in dispute and it is the intention of the prosecution to proceed regardless of the outcome of the Crown Court trial, the prosecution should consider asking for such summary offences to be heard first. London, SW1H 9EA. You may have heard that if you get a speeding ticket through the post more than 14 . Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) - Motor Lawyers The duty to stop means to stop sufficiently long enough to exchange the particulars above: (Lee v Knapp [1966] 3 All ER 961). 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. The following factors should be considered in prosecutions relating to drivers' hours, breaches or falsifications: Procedure where No Documents are Produced at a Police Station and Summonses for Apparent Offences are Issued, Defendants Attempting to Produce Documents at Court for the First Time, Notice To Persons Summonsed To Court For Either Not Having Or Failing To Produce To The Police Any Relevant Documents For The Use Of A Motor Vehicle On A Road Or Public Place, SCHEDULE 1 - OFFENCES PROCEEDINGS SPECIFIED BY ARTICLE 3(1). Why You Shouldn't Ignore A Notice of Intended Prosecution The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (VERA) requires a mechanically propelled vehicle used or kept on a public road to be registered and licensed. Court Summons For Speeding: What Are Your Next Steps? Our specialist lawyers have years of experience having dealt with 100s of cases with a high success rate. If such an application is made, it should be noted that s.78 gives a discretionary power to the court to exclude evidence. 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. by sending a notice within 14 days of the possibility of prosecution and specifying the nature of the alleged offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed to the driver, registered keeper of the vehicle or rider of the cycle. evidence of a person who was present in court when the defendant was convicted on an earlier occasion and able to identify him as present in court. Service of a notice at the last known address of the accused will suffice for good service. The Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) will ask the registered keeper of the vehicle to name the driver or rider at the time of the alleged offence; they'll be the same person or a family member in most cases, but sometimes it won't be so straightforward, and it'll be an unknown 'friend of a friend'. I have received a NIP for speeding, however at the date and time shown on the notice, I am 99% sure I was at home with the car. All who deal with cases where document production is made should be alive to the current sophistication of fraudulently produced material. 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). (d) the weight or physical characteristics of the goods that the vehicle carries, 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. Notice of intended prosecution (NIP) - informs the registered keeper that the police want to prosecute the driver for an offence. 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. The failure to stop is usually viewed as the more serious of the two. 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. 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 . A NIP can also be issued to limited companies and the requirement of disclosure is is also obligatory. 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. 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. In relation to the controversial right to silence argument, the ECHR verdict in (halloran and francis) enable the British Government to continue to force motorists to incriminate themselves using S172 of the Road Traffic Act, which is almost always the only evidence of the drivers identity in speed camera cases These include: Failing to comply with a traffic sign. There must be evidence upon which a Court can properly infer that an employer gave a positive mandate or some other sufficient act to "cause" the offence to occur. (g) the carrying on the vehicle of any particular apparatus, or We represent drivers throughout Scotland. The law states that unless a notice of intended prosecution is served within the time limit set out that the person concerned will not be convicted - it doesn't state that the process stops . by Graham Walker | Jan 29, 2013 | Careless Driving, Dangerous Driving | Scotland, Road Traffic Law Scotland, Speed Cameras Latest Advice, Speeding.