Drivers should pay up even if they go to court and win

Drivers should pay up even if they go to court and win say ministers.



Drivers who challenge motoring prosecutions should be made to pay their legal bills even if they win their case, ministers have said. The proposal would see successful defendants lose their century-old right to claim back their costs.

A change in the law would affect many of the 1.7million drivers a year who take their cases to court. Ministers are proposing that defendants lose their century-old right to claim back their legal costs.
It costs around £1,500 to fight charges of speeding, illegal parking and other motoring offences and this cost would not be fully reimbursed even if a driver was found innocent of all charges.



Peter Roberts CEO of the Drivers' Alliance said "it is fundamentally wrong for the state to financially penalise innocent drivers who are simply seeking justice against a faulty conviction".


Jeanette Miller, of Geoffrey Miller, a leading motoring law firm has raised a petition on the Downing Street website and the Drivers' Alliance urges everyone to sign it. If the principle of innocent until proven guilty is to be upheld in this country then it is imperative people who win a court case are not financially disadvantaged for defending themselves.



You can sign the petition at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/CostsRecovery/

Can't find any mention of it on the Ministry of Justice website. Are you sure this is genuine? A lot of these petitions get everyone all riled up and then prove to be complete fabrications.

What a joke. This cant be right! This is making it so police can just take the **** as there is no possible come back. All so the Government can make yet more money out of us motorists. Gods sake!

Originally Posted by Warthog

Can't find any mention of it on the Ministry of Justice website. Are you sure this is genuine? A lot of these petitions get everyone all riled up and then prove to be complete fabrications.

I heard mention of this about 18 months ago as it was costing the government hundreds of thousands each year in court fees on lost cases.
I guess this way its win, win for them.
Ive signed it and if its not real who cares.

It happens all the time in the county court. In 20 years I have yet to win costs in a small claim (nothing small about many of them - up to £5K) - win or lose, you're most unlikely to get a costs award. Same in the Employment Tribunal, unless the Trib thinks you've behaved unreasonably - which is rare.

If this happens then we will finally be living in a dictatorship.