Parking Penalties v The English Bill of Rights

PeterCaulf

Interesting that parking charge notices are just invoices, but Penalty charge notices are legal 'Fines.'

The English Bill of Rights, upon which all the laws of the land are enshrined, clearly states that ..."No man shall suffer fine or forfeiture without first a conviction in a court of law."

When the police used to issue parking tickets, you always had the choice to dispute the claim in court. If you agreed the claim, then you settled the ticket. Thus the EBofR was complied with.

However, parking offences were DECRIMINALISED, meaning that they were no longer offences punishable by the court, and yet, the local authorities continue to hand out penalty notices as if they were.

The only reason you go to court now, is for non-payment, in other words, civil debt recovery. Your appeal isn't to a magistrate, it's to some faceless jobsworth at the council offices.

So, in those circumstances, surely the "legal" penalty notice is also, nothing more than an invoice.

Decriminalised or not, there is sound argument to say that the councils, which are part of the State, ARE in breach of the English Bill of Rights as drivers are being fined, (by the State), without first being found guilty in court of law.

It might be a sound argument, but it is one that will never be won, because no judge in his right mind would side with the motorists; the financial ramifications for local councils having to refund £billions in fines, would be untenable.

Coupon-mad

You've waited a long time between your two posts - nine years!

Sounds like FOTL nonsense to me.

Far easier to win Council PCN appeals with the sensible arguments put forward on pepipoo forum.

HO87

On this forum we tend to deal with private parking issues = invoices and there is of course the option to fight these in court. If the company concerned are up for it.

As C-M has said Council tickets are, in many respects, easier to fight with sensible arguments. Private invoices, by contrast, require contortions that are entirely legally based.

Fortunately, when dealing with private parking issues in court we are not having to deal with officials (other than the judge) we have to ensure are "on their oath".

The Bill of Rights is one thing but FOTL is downright tripe (there's an invite for intense trolling) thought up by a barking sometime-Canadian/sometime-American whilst he cooled his heels courtesy at a number of penal institutions - serving time for fraud.

Now there's a thing. The words "private parking" and "fraud" in the same post.