Court Summons

JerCotter7

I got a summons for no silencer, no tax and non display of tax.

The car passed nct with that exhaust and I just bought a new one last week because of a hole in it. Not sure what will be said about that?

But the tax one is confusing me. I never got a fine? So i never had the opportunity to pay in the first 28/56 days. I would have payed it if I had got it since I have no problem paying for a fine I deserve. Any idea's on if I should even get a summons for it without a fine?

coylemj

There is no obligation to give you the option to pay a fine, they can summons you direct to court as they have done.

On the car tax, not paying the tax is a revenue offence, not displaying the disc is a road traffic offence. Normally a person in your situation will pay the tax, get a new tax disc and let the Garda see that you have done so, either before the court or on the day - though if you drive to the court with your current tax disc and bring it into the courtroom to show it to the Garda, you could get a ticket outside for non-display - it has happened!

If you put your affairs in order and pay any arrears, the judge (if he's in a good mood) will normally strike out the non-payment (revenue) offence and impose a small fine for non-display.

Did the Garda measure your exhaust noise or what evidence do you think he intends to produce to back up that summons?

JerCotter7

coylemj wrote: »

There is no obligation to give you the option to pay a fine, they can summons you direct to court as they have done.

On the car tax, not paying the tax is a revenue offence, not displaying the disc is a road traffic offence. Normally a person in your situation will pay the tax, get a new tax disc and let the Garda see that you have done so, either before the court or on the day - though if you drive to the court with your current tax disc and bring it into the courtroom to show it to the Garda, you could get a ticket outside for non-display - it has happened!

If you put your affairs in order and pay any arrears, the judge (if he's in a good mood) will normally strike out the non-payment (revenue) offence and impose a small fine for non-display.

Did the Garda measure your exhaust noise or what evidence do you think he intends to produce to back up that summons?

No evidence for exhaust noise. So I should take my tax disc in with me? Car is off the road at the moment but it is taxed. Also I just got a letter today saying the gaurd will not be present. So they want to adjourn it almost 2 months. Can I still go to court tomorrow and plead the case?

And that is stupid that you can get summons when there is a system in place for getting a 28 notice to pay a fine.

EDIT: Exhaust summons just says no silencer fitted. There has always been a silencer on the car.

coylemj

JerCotter7 wrote: »

No evidence for exhaust noise. So I should take my tax disc in with me? Car is off the road at the moment but it is taxed. Also I just got a letter today saying the gaurd will not be present. So they want to adjourn it almost 2 months. Can I still go to court tomorrow and plead the case?

And that is stupid that you can get summons when there is a system in place for getting a 28 notice to pay a fine.

EDIT: Exhaust summons just says no silencer fitted. There has always been a silencer on the car.

If you got a letter saying that the Garda won't be present then you can be sure that the case will be adjourned so while you can by all means go to the court and ask for the case to go ahead (and be dismissed for lack of evidence), it's likely that the state solicitor or another Garda will stand up and say that you were informed by letter that the prosecution would be looking for an adjournment and the judge will probably grant the adjournment.

What kind of a vehicle are we talking about here?

JerCotter7

coylemj wrote: »

If you got a letter saying that the Garda won't be present then you can be sure that the case will be adjourned so while you can by all means go to the court and ask for the case to go ahead (and be dismissed for lack of evidence), it's likely that the state solicitor or another Garda will stand up and say that you were informed by letter that the prosecution would be looking for an adjournment and the judge will probably grant the adjournment.

What kind of a vehicle are we talking about here?

I'll go anyway. Hope it will show I at least make an effort to take this crap serious.

BMW E36 318is.

Buford T Justice

JerCotter7 wrote: »

No evidence for exhaust noise. So I should take my tax disc in with me? Car is off the road at the moment but it is taxed. Also I just got a letter today saying the gaurd will not be present. So they want to adjourn it almost 2 months. Can I still go to court tomorrow and plead the case?

And that is stupid that you can get summons when there is a system in place for getting a 28 notice to pay a fine.

EDIT: Exhaust summons just says no silencer fitted. There has always been a silencer on the car.

It'll either be adjourned or struck out, one or the other if the garda isn't present