going to court and summons.

carzony

i was wondering if you recieve a summonsed for say traffic offences and obviousally your obliged to go to court. does this mean you have been charged with an offence? even if the case is struck out.

or do you have to be arrested and then brought to court?

Bepolite

A summons is a way to get you to go to court. There are remarkably few crimes (in the scheme of things) where you get thrown in jail until your court date like on TV. Many minor crimes don't involve arrest simply a telling off and a letter in the post.

I would advise, as I always do, that you speak to a solicitor. This doesn't mean you're engaging Perry Mason and need to mortgage your house. You might only need one appointment for a steer and your questions answered.

If you can't make the court date the solicitor can go in your place (I believe) but I think it's best to be there yourself, depending on the situation - again the solicitor will give you a steer.

The experience is likely to be very different to what you expect and don't worry too much about it. Just don't bury your head in the sand.

coylemj

carzony wrote: »

i was wondering if you recieve a summonsed for say traffic offences and obviousally your obliged to go to court. does this mean you have been charged with an offence? even if the case is struck out.

or do you have to be arrested and then brought to court?

There is no qualitative difference between being brought to court by summons or arrest i.e. once you're in front of the judge it makes no odds how you got there. A person who was arrested however does have the option to challenge the legality of the arrest whereas if you get a summons and show up, you don't really have much wriggle room to get out of answering the charge.

I think your question however is to do with semantics - being 'charged with' an offence can be dealt with by arrest or by summons.

carzony

Ah no solicitor needed lads lol.. This happened a long time ago with a very minor traffic matter. I knew the matter was struck out but I was still unsure wether it was considered charged with an offense. so if asked on a vetting form ''have you ever been charged of an offence'' the answer would be yes?

coylemj

carzony wrote: »

Ah no solicitor needed lads lol.. This happened a long time ago with a very minor traffic matter. I knew the matter was struck out but I was still unsure wether it was considered charged with an offense. so if asked on a vetting form ''have you ever been charged of an offence'' the answer would be yes?

It's really up to you. If as you say it was a 'very minor traffic matter' which I assume was a parking ticket that you didn't pay then I personally would say 'no' for the simple reason that there won't be any record anywhere of the event if you weren't convicted.

carzony

coylemj wrote: »

It's really up to you. If as you say it was a 'very minor traffic matter' which I assume was a parking ticket that you didn't pay then I personally would say 'no' for the simple reason that there won't be any record anywhere of the event if you weren't convicted.

it was a non producer matter mate. i recieved a summons for no tax, nct, no license and no insurance but obviousally had all details and was struck out..

Peregrinus

Yes, you were charged. And, yes, traffic/insurance offences are "offences". So the answer to the question you were asked is "yes", unless the form indicates (as they often do) that motoring offences can be disregarded.

Pro Hoc Vice

coylemj wrote: »

It's really up to you. If as you say it was a 'very minor traffic matter' which I assume was a parking ticket that you didn't pay then I personally would say 'no' for the simple reason that there won't be any record anywhere of the event if you weren't convicted.

So are you saying it's ok to tell a lie when no chance of being caught out.

Pro Hoc Vice

carzony wrote: »

Ah no solicitor needed lads lol.. This happened a long time ago with a very minor traffic matter. I knew the matter was struck out but I was still unsure wether it was considered charged with an offense. so if asked on a vetting form ''have you ever been charged of an offence'' the answer would be yes?

Simple answer yes, but often many such situations say "except road traffic" if such an exclusion applies then the answer is no.

coylemj

Pro Hoc Vice wrote: »

So are you saying it's ok to tell a lie when no chance of being caught out.

In this case, if giving a truthful reply had the capability to send my job application into an administrative black hole, damn right I'll tell a lie and say 'no'.

Mr_Red

coylemj wrote: »

There is no qualitative difference between being brought to court by summons or arrest i.e. once you're in front of the judge it makes no odds how you got there. A person who was arrested however does have the option to challenge the legality of the arrest whereas if you get a summons and show up, you don't really have much wriggle room to get out of answering the charge.

I think your question however is to do with semantics - being 'charged with' an offence can be dealt with by arrest or by summons.

Charged or convicted?

Ive never seen charged on an application

coylemj

Mr_Red wrote: »

Charged or convicted?

I've never seen charged on an application

This is one of the OP's posts which I think answers your question, text emboldened by me....

carzony wrote: »

Ah no solicitor needed lads lol.. This happened a long time ago with a very minor traffic matter. I knew the matter was struck out but I was still unsure wether it was considered charged with an offense. so if asked on a vetting form ''have you ever been charged of an offence'' the answer would be yes?

Claw Hammer

coylemj wrote: »

There is no qualitative difference between being brought to court by summons or arrest i.e. once you're in front of the judge it makes no odds how you got there. A person who was arrested however does have the option to challenge the legality of the arrest whereas if you get a summons and show up, you don't really have much wriggle room to get out of answering the charge.

I think your question however is to do with semantics - being 'charged with' an offence can be dealt with by arrest or by summons.

There is a major difference between being charged and brought to court on a summons. With a summons the person is not charged until the case is called on and the defendand is asked to plead. If the case is struck out before the defendant is asked to plead (which often happens" it means the defendant was never charged in relation to that offence.