Clause 7 - Notification of court and date of trial
Criminal Justice and Police Bill
9:55 am
Sir Nicholas Lyell (North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I was speaking about amendment No. 111 in our previous sitting and, as I was saying then, leaving out subsection (7) would allow someone who was not informed that he had received a fixed penalty to keep the matter open. I will recap briefly and then ask the Parliamentary Secretary's opinion.
Chapter I will greatly assist the police and the administration of justice, by enabling comparatively minor offences to be dealt with swiftly and effectively. However, if the speed of justice is increased, its fairness can be reduced, which would be undesirable in cases in which people were unaware that they had been given a penalty notice, and wanted the matter reopened.
Subsection (7) is unnecessary, and the window that it leaves open is not likely to be used often. If people try to use that window in unmerited cases, the court will not allow it. However, in the sort of case in which it is used, it will give the court an opportunity to do justice where, otherwise, the rights of the citizen might have been ridden over roughshod. I hope that that is not the Government's intention, and I believe that it would be wise to leave this window open.