complaints by "registeredpost"

foggy_lad

a circuit court judge recently ruled that sending a traffic fine in the post with proof of posting only was sufficient evidence that it was delivered so is it absolutly necessary to send complaints by registered post? is there not an expectation that items posted will be delivered and that claiming they are lost in the post is not an option anymore?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/judge-rules-traffic-fines-lost-in-post-no-longer-an-excuse-96488.html

A CIRCUIT court has put the brakes on motorists who escaped bigger fines and the risk of more penalty points by claiming they didn’t get mailed a fixed penalty notice for speeding.

Motorists convicted in the district courts had appealed speeding cases to the higher court on the basis they had not received the initial fines in the post.

As a result, thousands of drivers avoided stiffer penalties and, in many cases, judges had also struck out the summonses or given the motorists a chance to pay the fixed fine.

But a circuit court judge yesterday said blaming problems with the mail was no longer an excuse.

Ruling on the side of the gardaí, Judge Michael White said that proof of posting of the notice – as distinct from proof of receipt – was sufficient evidence for the courts.

The decision breaks new ground and has "ramifications all over the country", a barrister has claimed.

At Dundalk Circuit Court, Judge White said "the non-receipt of a fixed penalty notice is not an automatic bar to the judge proceeding with the trial".

"If the essential proofs required for the offence are established, the trial judge can convict," he said.

He said the effect of serving someone with a fixed penalty notice "is to postpone a prosecution".

"The fact that penalty points increase when a court conviction arises is not of itself a bar to conviction," he added.

He gave the judgment in relation to the Director of Public Prosecutions v Kevin Tully, who had been fined €500 for speeding at Kentstown, Navan, in August 2007.

The defendant had told Navan District Court he did not receive the fixed notice.

Lily Buckley, BL, was in Dundalk Circuit Court yesterday representing another motorist detected doing 165km/h on the M1 where the speed limit is 120km/h.

He was appealing his fine and disqualification and had said he did not receive the letter from the Fixed Charge Processing Office.

In her submission to Judge White, on foot of his ruling, Ms Buckley said this was "breaking new ground and will have ramifications all over the country".

She said that in such a situation, the motorist who did not receive the notice "is prejudiced and is treated differently to other persons who did receive the fixed penalty notice".

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/judge-rules-traffic-fines-lost-in-post-no-longer-an-excuse-96488.html#ixzz0Lc3JjWPd

MunsterCycling

That Judge is a clown, no one in their right mind would accept that the posting of an item is proof of receipt.

MC

Kensington

Seems a bit of a crazy ruling. I would always send important stuff via registered post, since there is no denying that the intended recipient address received it, if a signature is required.