Background and Policy Objectives
3.Northern Ireland and Great Britain have separate driver licensing authorities, and the main purposes of the Order are to enable driving disqualifications imposed in Great Britain to have effect in Northern Ireland and to apply the fixed penalty procedure to offences committed by Great Britain licence holders in Northern Ireland. Present legislation permits mutual recognition of driving licences, allowing a Northern Ireland licence holder to drive in Great Britain, and vice versa. However, there has been no statutory provision to enable the mutual recognition of driving disqualifications between the two jurisdictions. Accordingly, a holder of a Northern Ireland licence who is disqualified for driving in Great Britain is free to continue to drive in Northern Ireland. The reverse is also true. Furthermore, a Great Britain licence holder who commits an endorsable driving offence in Northern Ireland cannot make use of the fixed penalty procedure in Northern Ireland, and vice versa. Instead, the driver is prosecuted in court and will incur the additional inconvenience of a court appearance and additional costs.
4.The Order will provide a framework in Northern Ireland for the mutual recognition of driving disqualifications and endorsable offences. Reciprocal measures for Great Britain are contained in the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003. The intention is that these reciprocal provisions will come into force at the same time in each jurisdiction. There is also provision in the Order for recognition in Northern Ireland of relevant disqualifications imposed in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.
5.Enforcement of penalties for road traffic offences will be improved by ensuring that such offences committed in either jurisdiction are penalised in both. The enhanced deterrent effect of such provision can be expected to encourage improved driver behaviour and thus contribute to a reduction in road casualties.
6.The Order will also remove two anomalies related to driving licences in order to make the mutual recognition of driving disqualifications more effective. First, it will cease to be permissible for an individual to hold both a Great Britain and a Northern Ireland licence. Second, Great Britain provisional licences will no longer be treated as full licences in Northern Ireland.
