Sorn renewal fine/court threat

arcon5

No, the changes will not be backdated. Otherwise that would open the flood gates to people reclaiming these charges.

tommyjj

arcon5 - I wouldn't expect the charge to be backdated, but I thought maybe if a court case would be unlikely to succeed for them they'd not bother pursuing it.

Since there has been no court case yet, would a court case be based on current law, or the law that was in place at the time of the offence?

If the former is true, then I would have no case to answer. If the latter would happen, wouldn't that effectively mean a court was using out-of-date legislation to prosecute in the present? Maybe that happens all the time - I'm not a lawyer and have never been involved in a court case before.

HappyMJ

It isn't a criminal case so not based on any law at all. It's a debt that may be enforced in county court...if ever. You go along to county court and say to them whatever you want that is reasonable and it's unlikely you will get a CCJ.

It will never go to magistrates court as it is not a prosecutable offence. You don't need a lawyer, you can easily defend your case. Think of Judge Judy on the telly which is a civil court too. They put their case and you put yours. The judge looks on the balance of probabilities and rules either way. You could say anything such as I didn't get the reminder and that should be enough.

However. chance of going to court ...very minimal...I'd take the risk and ignore them.

tommyjj

my cat has just made her views clear by eating half the debt recovery notice

Rover_Driver

HappyMJ wrote: »

It isn't a criminal case so not based on any law at all.

If it is an out of court settlement offer it will be for not having a licence, an offence contrary to s.29, Vehicles Excise & Registration Act 1994, which could end up in Magistrates court.

tommyjj

It's amazing that something as trivial as not renewing a SORN document (which is no longer an offense anyway) can be processed through a few legal jargon-machines to result in an effective prosecution for not having a vehicle license.

Though the letter says Section 7A and 31A not 29

HappyMJ

tommyjj wrote: »

It's amazing that something as trivial as not renewing a SORN document (which is no longer an offense anyway) can be processed through a few legal jargon-machines to result in an effective prosecution for not having a vehicle license.

Though the letter says Section 7A and 31A not 29

7A refers to the debt being a supplement which according to subsection 3(c) may be recovered as a debt due to the crown. Which means County Court not Magistrates Court.

It's a gamble as I said to ignore it, these cases rarely get to court.

Rover_Driver

tommyjj wrote: »

It's amazing that something as trivial as not renewing a SORN document (which is no longer an offense anyway) can be processed through a few legal jargon-machines to result in an effective prosecution for not having a vehicle license.

Though the letter says Section 7A and 31A not 29

S.31A is the offence of being the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle, dealt with in the same way as s.29.

S.7A is the Late Licensing Penalty, which is treated as a civil debt and can end up in County court.

HappyMJ

Rover_Driver wrote: »

S.31A is the offence of being the registered keeper of an unlicensed vehicle, dealt with in the same way as s.29.

S.7A is the Late Licensing Penalty, which is treated as a civil debt and can end up in County court.

It's been more than 6 months so cannot go to Magistrates Court ever according to section 47.

Rover_Driver

HappyMJ wrote: »

It's been more than 6 months so cannot go to Magistrates Court ever according to section 47.

It's six months from the date that evidence of the offence came to knowledge. After three years from the offence is the date that it cannot go to court.