Parking Charge Notice - Defence Submission

allshallbewell

Anything new on the DLUHC 'temporarily withdrawn' Private Parking C of P and the draft IA  - anybody -  please? I'm wondering when it's likely to become an institute of statute under the 2019 Act.

Coupon-mad

No we are expecting a Public Consultation. Then the Code (coming soon).

EDIT: now delayed by the General Election.

allshallbewell

Thank you Coupon-mad. I've a hearing date about a month away. Is it a good idea to email my WS in now (latest date is 16/5) to make sure it's seen by all parties or to wait a bit to have an opportunity to see the claimant's WS first and perhaps avoid last minute ambushes?

Coupon-mad

Send it fairly soon in May. DCB Legal will then discontinue.  Show us the NoD when they do!

allshallbewell

Thank you Coupon-mad. Will do. I was expecting a barrister as the court have allocated the case an hour and a half. DCB Legal on their N180 stated the need for cross examination in order to argue complex issues of fact and law. I was looking forward to that! 
Following the controversial Britannia v Semark-Jullien appeal ruling Parkes HHJ, did the case come to a final hearing in Southampton or did Britannia drop it and the car parking companies simply file the appeal ruling as ammo? 

Coupon-mad

The Southampton case was overturned, yes, so they use it as ammo.  But that's covered in one if not all of our suggested WS exemplars.

allshallbewell

And thank you again for all your help!

allshallbewell

Can one take a laptop computer into court?

Coupon-mad

You should ask first to be sure it can be accommodated in case you need to charge it, but yes, the Claimant's reps normally bring a tablet.

allshallbewell

An update on my case which was heard today and found in my favour. The hearing was to be in Ipswich (my local court) but was reallocated the day before to Norwich via a CVP link with Deputy DJ Strelitz.  The hearing took 90 minutes. The Claimant's legal representative came down on the Claimant's witness statement that contained both stock/library/computer images and in situ images of the car park signage along with a Google map of the car park annotated to show the location of the signs as well as a hand drawn plan that was unclear about the boundaries of the car park which was 'geometrically irregular/polyhedral'. The Claimant did my job for me as she was unable to match the signs with the locations shown on the map when asked to do so by the Judge (also a barrister). I was an 'over-stayer', which I admitted but I was able to state or show that one of the T&C signs in the Claimant's W/S didn't appear anywhere in the car park, that here was no T&C sign at the place where I parked and paid (lots of photos), and that I would have behaved differently if I had been able to read the T&Cs. A request to appeal was rejected. Material date 6/8/2022, hearing 30/5/2024.
Thank you to all responders and especially to Coupon-mad