I believe NIPs are invalid unless isued with 14 days of the offence. Does this mean calendar days or working days?
There will be an interval before receipt while the NIP is in the post. Is there a imit to this period as well?
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The 14-day rule is right, but there are qualifications and exceptions.
NIPs don't have to be issued for every motoring offence, so it depends what it was.
NIPs should arrive at the registered keeper within 14 days.
The clock then stops.
This is relevant in the case of a company car where the NIP may take longer to reach the driver.
If the NIP is sent but doesn't arrive, or you ignore it, you may receive a gentle reminder, or a requirement to name the driver.
This requirement - known as a sect172 - can result in a charge of failure to furnish driver details.
The penalty for failure to furnish is deliberately higher than that for most speeding offences to discourage registered keepers from trying to evade responsibility by claiming they did not know who was driving.
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The day of the offence does not count in the 14 days scenario.
dvd
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...The day of the offence does not count in the 14 days scenario...
Staffordshire Police think it does:
www.pepipoo.com/images/Staffs_14_day_rule.jpg
Of course, their central ticket office manager could be wrong, or things could have changed since the letter was written.
I don't believe they have.
Some of the advice given on pepipoo is a bit cranky, but the link is to a letter from the police.
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>> ...The day of the offence does not count in the 14 days scenario...
>>
>> Staffordshire Police think it does:
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>> www.pepipoo.com/images/Staffs_14_day_rule.jpg
I'm a bit dubious about relying on that letter in respect of include/exclude day of offence.
The wording suggests it is reponding questions about a NIP that came to the driver via the keeper and took far longer than 14 (or 15) days. The include/exclude question was not asked and is therefore not answered.
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Bromp,
The middle paragraph of the letter does answer the question.
It says they are required to issue a NIP, quotes the relevant Act, and then goes on to say:
"The notice must be posted to reach the keeper within 14 days of the offence."
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A notice of intended prosecution can be given:
either orally or in writing at the time the offence was committed. Such a warning need not be specific but may refer to some one or other of the offences to which section 1 applies. Whether such a warning was given 'at the time' is a question of degree and the High Court will not interfere in a Magistrates' Court finding on the point if there is evidence to support that finding.
By serving the defendant with a summons within 14 days of the offence; or
By sending a notice within 14 days of the possibility of prosecution and specifying the nature of the alleged offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed to the driver, registered keeper of the vehicle or rider of the cycle.
The above is from the CPS charging standards on the subject. Definitive and trumps any advice on other forums.
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Plus, if I may and can you confirm RP, if the NIP is claimed to have been posted it is assumed that the intended recipient has received it, even if recorded delivery is not used? Is the same assumption made for the non-receipt of the completed NIP? I.e. it was posted so it must have reached the issuing office?
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And is it calendar or working days that are meant?
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...And is it calendar or working days that are meant?...
I read it as calendar days, but you need to post a few more details of the alleged offence to be certain the time scale is relevant at all.
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you need to post a few more details
>> of the alleged offence to be certain the time scale is relevant at all.
Crossing on a red.
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...Crossing on a red...
Were you stopped at the time?
Was there any collision, however minor?
Was it a bad one in the sense a pedestrian had to jump out of the way, or was prevented from crossing, or clearly startled?
Or did another driver have to brake?
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As far as the law is concerned a day is a day. There is no legal meaning of the phrase "working day".
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...The above is from the CPS charging standards on the subject...
CPS prose is not a model of clarity, but it seems to me to support the contention the NIP must be sent to the registered keeper within 14 days.
By the way Bromp, there's a not deliberate, but not crucial, mistake in my description of the judge in my last post in the 'free parking for safety reasons' thread.
A man of your calibre should be able to spot it.
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Perhaps 'one of' Queen's Counsel rather than 'is' but even if correct it would be pernickity in the extreme to notice.
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...Perhaps 'one of' Queen's Counsel rather than 'is' but even if correct it would be pernickity in the extreme to notice...
To avoid mixing topics, I'll post the answer in the thread.
It is of more than pedantic interest.
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I "knew" it to be as fourteen days from the day of the offence. Calender not working.
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Iffy. I wasn't stopped, there was no collision, no pedestrian was involved, I don't know if anyone had to brake.
Meldrew. I don't know if there was a camera.
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>> Iffy. I wasn't stopped, there was no collision, no pedestrian was involved, I don't know
>> if anyone had to brake.
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>> Meldrew. I don't know if there was a camera.
Assuming you did it, then someone must have seen you.
Sounds like a camera to me.
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...I wasn't stopped, there was no collision, no pedestrian was involved, I don't know if anyone had to brake...
Assuming you weren't going at a daft speed, it sounds like a NIP job, so you can rest easy after 14 days.
The risk with running a red light is another driver - or anyone else - may have seen you and reported it.
The offence may then be charged as due care and attention, which requires no NIP.
They then have six months from the date of the offence to charge you, after which it's timed out.
I'm not trying to worry you unduly, chances are no one will bother to report it, and even if they do, the police then have to be bothered to do something about the report.
But you should be aware of the possible chain of events.
Lots of drivers seem to receive the summons just within the six-month deadline, which suggests to me the prosecuting authority is behind and chasing up cases just before they are timed out.
It's worth your while making a few notes of events now, because you will have forgotten it all by time the summons arrives.
You also need to prime any witnesses - if you intend to contest it.
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In practice automated systems' NIPs ar out within a few days. I know that the local Force here do them in 5 working days or less. Human Officers will also tend to send them out ASAP as well.
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Surely if somebody reports it they will need proof? Otherwise anybody can just give points to their enemies.
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The NIP is a "must do" for certain offences and will be usually sent out before or during any evidence gathering, NIPs won't be delayed until a case is built. A decision by Police or CPS later on may result in any action being quashed (heavens, this is like the old days)
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...NIPs won't be delayed until a case is built....
I'm not saying they are.
NIPs are not used for due care and attention, you just receive a summons.
They have six months from the date of the offence to serve the summons.
Realistically, the first you may know about it is when a police officer taps on your door, although who they decide to interview in connection with an offence is largely up to them.
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...Surely if somebody reports it they will need proof? Otherwise anybody can just give points to their enemies...
The person who reports it makes a witness statement, which is used as evidence against you.
You then have to gather your own evidence, which will probably include a statement from yourself.
If the matter goes to court, the court can only find you guilty if they think it is beyond a reasonable doubt you committed the offence.
Malicious witness statements are not unknown, but in your example, your enemy must see you driving somewhere and make up an offence you didn't do.
Such statements/evidence are usually easy to break down, and your enemy is genuinely risking a jail sentence if he lies in court.
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If
"The offence may then be charged as due care and attention, which requires no NIP."
Careless requires an NIP unless a collision features in the scenario.
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NIP receipt - Iffy
