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Motorcyclists: Offences

Answer

Judicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board, an independent body chaired by Lord Justice Keene.Magistrates receive advice and training on both the general approach to sentencing and to sentencing for specific offences. The major source for guidance on motoring offences is the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines drawn up by a number of magistrates and others for the benefit of the magistracy as a whole, and effective from 1 January 2004. These guidelines are included in the Adult Court Bench Book and used nationally. The Adult Court Bench Book is accessible to everyone through the public JSB website. The guidelines provide a structure for determining an appropriate penalty within the limits set by Parliament. They require the magistrate to take into account the seriousness of the offence, the defendant’s personal circumstances and, if a fine is appropriate, the defendant’s means.For speeding offences, the guidelines propose that a number of miles per hour over the speed limit should be the primary (but not the only) factor in determining seriousness, and suggests different fine levels, penalty points and/or disqualification depending on the speed and other seriousness factors.There are no specific guidelines for the offences of ““illegal number plates”” or ““illegal noisy exhaust systems”” . They are within a general category of vehicle defect offences, and the guidelines suggest, as a starting point, a fine. Magistrates will use their usual process for determining the seriousness of the offence to fix the amount of that fine.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

1281; 675 c51WA

Session

2005-06

Notes

Written Answer should have been published on 21 July 2005.

Subjects

Pollution Prosecutions Motorcycles Noise Magistrates Sentencing Training Speed limits Road traffic offences Vehicle number plates

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk