I retired from the magistracy in 2015 after 17 years mainly as a presiding justice

United Kingdom
My current blog can be accessed at https://thejusticeofthepeaceblog.blogspot.com/

STATUTARY DECLARATION & SERVICE OF SUMMONS

 

21. Mar. 2010. – 13:03:11

Most holders of a UK driving license have heard of "totting"; the addition of penalty points which are endorsed on a license for various offences eg speeding, no insurance, careless driving etc etc. In most cases upon reaching twelve points there is an automatic six month disqualification from driving in this country. It is the accepted practice that in order to ensure a driver is not unaware of the sanction when penalty  points reach or breach the magic twelve s/he is summonsed to appear before magistrates.  The summons is considered "served" when proof of first class posting is presented to the court.  This, as is all too obvious, allows defendants to declare truthfully or otherwise that they have never received such a summons.  There are arguments for and against instituting "signed for" service but that is for another time.


A very common appearance before a bench is the individual making a statutory declaration in which s/he declares and signs to the effect that eg an event has or has not occurred and the applicant wants to put matters straight.  One common such "has not occurred" event is the non receipt of a court summons and therefore the consequent inability to have complied with the subsequent court directive deriving from that summons.


A couple of weeks ago a woman made and signed such a "stat dec" to the effect that she had not received a summons for a motoring offence for which she was in her absence fined and disqualified from driving as a "totter" the court having had a print out from the DVLA in front of it and therefore full knowledge of her previous penalty points.  She had been away from home for three months and as she lived alone nobody had forwarded or opened her mail.  She came to court two days after coming home and reading the summons.  She was advised that after her form had been countersigned by a Justice of the Peace on the bench the matter was "dropped" and the papers would be returned to the CPS and court involved which would at its discretion decide whether or not to re-issue the summons. She was told that she was still able to drive as the points which had tipped her over the edge were erased at least for now.

          

       The whole system of the service of court summons is a cause for concern.  For example there are millions of immigrants new to the country in the last fifteen years; many live in rented accommodation and frequently change address; most are law abiding members of the community but unfortunately anecdotal evidence suggests that they are  liable to appear in court at least as often and possibly at a higher rate than UK citizens. For them and for all citizens the obvious answer is personal service but the cost, the cost, the cost!

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