Criminal Law

The minimum punishment upon conviction is a 12 month ban. Although the Court does have discretion, a ban is for all intents and purposes compulsory.

The duration of the disqualification does depend upon the circumstances of the incident and in particular the alcohol reading.

At the Court’s discretion, you may be offered the opportunity to attend a drink driving rehabilitation course which once completed, can reduce the period of a ban by 25%.

In Northern Ireland the course is provided by the TTC Group (http://www.ttc-uk.com/) You lawyer must ask for the judge to consider this option. Loss of job is not a reason to justify avoiding disqualification. If you have a previous conviction for drink driving the foregoing will not apply. Please see below.

If the previous offence occurred within the last 10 years, the minimum punishment that the Court will impose is a 3 year driving ban. There will also be a fine and the option for other custodial and non-custodial senetnces.

If the previous offence occurred more than 10 years, it will be regarded as spent under the Rehabilitaion of Offenders Order (Northern Ireland) and the minimum penalty is a 1 year driving ban, subject to the level of alcohol recorded.

The Prosecution do not have to show who was driving. All the Prosecution need to do is prove the identity of the vehicle and that they have asked the registered keeper to identify the driver at the time of the alleged offence. That request shifts the burden onto the keeper.

An offence is committed if no driver identification is given unless you are able to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why it is impossible to establish the driver’s identity.

The option to resolve an offence by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice is at the discretion of the Police. There is no obligation upon the Police to offer a Fixed Penalty and if you leave the scene without a conditional offer in your hand, it is inevitable that a Summons will be issued.

No. If you had 9 points at the time of the offence, the Court is still entitled to impose a totting up ban. Points on your Licence are valid for 3 years. The important date is the date of the Offence not the date of conviction.

It is a condition of most Insurance Policies that you must inform the Insurance Company as soon as you are aware of a potential prosecution. If you are convicted, you should advise them immediately.

There is a possibilty that failure to do so can result in the policy being declared void and thus any claim could be rejected.

You will be convicted of the offence.

Driving without Insurance is a strict liability offence which carries a minum of 6 points, discretionary disqualification and the option of a custodial sentence not exceeding 6 months.

Yes. If the device is hand-held, even turning the mobile phone on is “using” the device which contravenes the current legislation. The fact that you were stationary in makes no difference, as you were still “driving” the car.

In order to avoid prosecution, you should only use a hand-held phone when the car is parked and the engine is turned off.

The Road Traffic (New Drivers) (NI) Order 1998 states that a newly qualified driver shall be subject to a probationary period of two years. Where the new driver accumulates 6 points or more within that period, the Licence shall be revoked by the Department of the Environment.

A full licence may not be granted to a new driver whose licence was revoked under the relavent article until the driver passed a “relevant driving test”. If the offence for which you may receeve penalty points also carries discretionary disqualification the Court may consider a short period of disqualification rather that revocation by virtue of totting up.
Early legal advice is essential if you face losing your licence.

If you are the registered keeper of the vehicle, you should receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days. If you are not the registered keeper, the Notice will go to whoever is on record with the DVLNI, be it a lease company or hire company etc, as appropriate. As long as the Notice is served in time, your obligation is to supply details as to driver identity, which you must do within 28 days of receiving the NIP. Thereafter, the Police will decide whether they are willing to offer a speed awareness course, a Fixed Penalty or refer the case to Court.

If you do not reply to the Notice in time, or with-hold information, you will be prosecuted for failing to identify a driver and would risk 6 points and a substantial fine.

With effect from 28 January 2010 mutual recognition of driving disqualifications between the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland came into force.

The agreement is within the framework established by the 1998 Convention on Driving Disqualifications. We believe that this is the first such instance of international cooperation within that framework.

The Convention provides for six agreed kinds of conduct, which will be internationally recognised for the purposes of driving disqualification. The Convention automatically comes into force across all Member States only when all original signatory States have ratified it. However, the Convention allows one EU Member State to recognise another's driving disqualifications before all Member States have ratified.

The agreed behaviours covered by the 1998 Convention include: reckless or dangerous driving; hit-and-run driving; driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs; speeding; and driving whilst disqualified. The Convention and therefore also today's agreement does not apply to disqualifications under the totting up of penalty points procedure.

The UK and Republic of Ireland implemented the necessary primary legislation to allow for ratification (in the UK through the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003, and in the Republic of Ireland under the Road Traffic Act (2002). Both countries have made the relevant notification to the EU Council and legislation must come into force 90 days after notification, i.e. 28 January 2010.

Mutual recognition of driving disqualifications came into effect between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 11 October 2004 and was extended to include the Isle of Man on 23 May 2005.

For the purposes of these Regulations the date of conviction will be used, regardless of when the offence was committed and an endorsement will remain on the licence and the record for four years from date of conviction in Ireland.

There is no mutual recognition of penalty points between the jurisdictions, so the UK court cannot add on Irish penalty points, for totting up purposes. However, the court has a wide discretion, in considering whether to impose discretionary disqualifications in the UK, to consider all mitigating or aggravating factors. The court therefore may consider the driver's licence history generally.