Petition to freeze speeding fines on Motorcyclists

[badass]

The definition of a summary offence is that it can only be heard in a magistrates court, except where specifically allowed by exceptions like those given above to be heard as part of a docket including an indictable or either-way offence. That's what "summary" means, badass. As opposed to "indictable" or "either-way". If you're unclear on this, I suggest you go get yourself an honours degree in law, like I did.

edit: Sorry, that was snippy.

A case may only proceed to a higher court upon appeal, and even then it is not (technically) to the Crown Court, but to the Queen's Bench, and it is NOT a jury trial.

Oh, speeding IS a summary offence; a "more serious offence" would not be a speeding fine, it would be something like dangerous driving, which is an either-way offence where either the prosecution or defence may opt for a jury trial.

Look, I know that it looks confusing when an appeal goes to the same judges as would sit in a Crown Court trial, but it's a different court (no, really, it is) with different rules, even if it's the same judges in the same rooms. Want some fun, then try working out the difference between the House of Lords and the Privy Council...

That explains everything
You could however have mentioned that you have a Law degree with honours in response to Post 22 by me and I would have accepted your info without question.

The more serious offence bit - I meant exactily what you said there - i.e. speeding so far over the limit that it could be considered smoething more serious like dangerous driving.

[wombar]

Just thought I'd say that I've also signed the petition. I personally don't ride a bike, but my brother does and there's too much of this going on in government at the moment. They know there's a problem, yet refuse to address it.

I'm all for penalising excessive speeding but the equipment has to be accurate or you might as well just zap every 14th car.

[nichomach]

That explains everything
You could however have mentioned that you have a Law degree with honours in response to Post 22 by me...

Ooops...sorry I don't use the LLB(Hons) bit on business cards or anything, so I tend to forget to mention it at all, and I'm not a lawyer by profession.

[badass]

might as well just zap every 14th car.

I wish they'd do that. It might stop people actually trusting anyone in governemnt to do anything but lie or distort the truth, and might even get people more involved in politics, rather than just bending over and taking whatever the gov't throws at them. Yeah, its a bit messed up, but nothing short of being constantly wrongly convicted seems to be enough to get people to do somthing.

Rights are like muscles. They keep getting weaker unless excersized.

[nichomach]

Rights are like muscles. They keep getting weaker unless excersized.

That I'd agree with; although I think one of the more regrettable tendencies in our society is that toward assuming that anyone the police are interested in is automatically guilty, that if someone wins an appeal, they "got off on a technicality", etc. I think it's the same thought process that leads people to say that the only people opposed to ID cards are those who have "something to hide" - because after all, if you haven't then why would you worry? That said, the squeals from the same people as soon as THEY get done for something like speeding are usually deafening; it's usually then that they discover the phrase "miscarriage of justice"...

I've signed the petition, since it is patently unjust to convict people on the basis of such dubious evidence; I just hope that the beneficiaries of the signatures remember that just before they say something like "he wouldn't have been arrested if he wasn't guilty", or "he wouldn't have confessed if he hadn't done it", or "the security services wouldn't say he needed locking up without a trial if he wasn't a terrorist"...some hope, eh?