Private Crime
Government funding for criminal legal aid has been slashed relentlessly over the past decade. If you have to appear before the criminal courts, and have an income or access to funds, paying privately for a decent service may well mean the difference between being found guilty and being acquitted. The…
Teaching Role
Andrew is a natural teacher who engages his audience, and teaches by collaborating with his students. Andrew views teaching as an exchange; gone are the old didactic methods with students as passive receivers of information. Andrew specialises in Advanced Fact Management Training. Lawyers customarily think and communicate with the left…
Businesses cannot rely on Atkinson v DPP
Business cannot rely on the liberal interpretation in Atkinson v DPP (duty to give information). The High Court excluded business because of the implied duty to keep records. Ensure records are properly maintained in the event of a road traffic offence being committed. Aktinson v DPP
Recent Interpretation of Duty to Give Informtion
Recently the High Court liberally interpreted the provision requiring a vehicle keeper to provide details of a driver. This is good news for vehicle owners unable to reasonably ascertain a driver’s identity when required to provide details under section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988. Atkinson v DPP.
Time is money: Business beware of imposing unreasonable timetables
If an employee exceeds the speed limit as a result of attempting to comply with his or her employer’s unreasonable timetable, the employer can be charged with procuring an offence of speeding. The timetable or schedule can be used as evidence of the employer’s complicity. So, this is a cautionary…
Businessmen – Know Your Limits!
Lack of judgement about your speed, coupled with a lack of judgement about your ability to communicate, could cost you your licence. My working environment, the courtroom, is an artificial place. The rules and customs there are known only to the initiated. To an outsider, it is a mysterious place…
The Clerk to the Magistrates’
The Clerk to the Magistrates’ The lay decision makers in the Magistrates’ Court do not usually have formal legal qualifications. The clerk is a qualified lawyer who advises on the law. He or she sit in front of the bench and could be mistaken for fulfilling an administrative rule; do…
All That Legal Experience
Recently at the Magistrates’ Court my client faced a charge of driving through a red light at 53 mph in a 30 mph limit. The expected penalty was a very large fine (he was a Premier League Football player) and 6 points. With the assistance of a photograph of the…
Legal Argument
My client had accumulated 18 points on his licence and was disqualified for 15 months as a totter. At the Crown Court on appeal, a carefully worded technical argument on the interpretation of the statute was sufficient to persuade the court to reduce the disqualification to 9 months! Sometimes investing…
Astonishing Cheek
Astonishing Cheek I represented a client today at the Crown Court. The history of this case shows how careful you have to be in choosing a lawyer. Here is the story: The client committed a series of minor traffic offences and a solicitor was instructed. The solicitor did not bother…