Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988

General

46 Combination of disqualification and endorsement with probation orders and orders for discharge

(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 13(3) of the [1973 c. 62.] Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 (conviction of offender placed on probation or discharged to be disregarded for the purposes of enactments relating to disqualification), a court in England and Wales which on convicting a person of an offence involving obligatory or discretionary disqualification makes—

(a) a probation order, or

(b) an order discharging him absolutely or conditionally,

may on that occasion also exercise any power conferred, and must also discharge any duty imposed, on the court by sections 34, 35, 36 or 44 of this Act.

(2) A conviction—

(a) in respect of which a court in England and Wales has ordered a person to be disqualified, or

(b) of which particulars have been endorsed on any licence held by him,

is to be taken into account, notwithstanding anything in section 13(1) of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 (conviction of offender placed on probation or discharged to be disregarded for the purpose of subsequent proceedings), in determining his liability to punishment or disqualification for any offence involving obligatory or discretionary disqualification committed subsequently.

(3) Where—

(a) a person is charged in Scotland with an offence involving obligatory or discretionary disqualification, and

(b) the court makes an order in respect of the offence under section 182 or 383 (absolute discharge) or 183 or 384 (probation) of the [1975 c. 21.] Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975,

then, for the purposes of sections 34, 35, 36, 44 and 45 of this Act, he shall be treated as if he had been convicted of an offence of the kind in question and section 191 or, as the case may be, section 392 of that Act shall not apply.

47 Supplementary provisions as to disqualifications and endorsements

(1) In any case where a court exercises its power under section 34, 35 or 44 of this Act not to order any disqualification or endorsement or to order disqualification for a shorter period than would otherwise be required, it must state the grounds for doing so in open court and, if it is a magistrates' court or, in Scotland, a court of summary jurisdiction, must cause them to be entered in the register (in Scotland, record) of its proceedings.

(2) Where a court orders the endorsement of any licence held by a person it may and, if it orders him to be disqualified, must, send the licence, on its being produced to the court, to the Secretary of State; and if the court orders the endorsement but does not send the licence to the Secretary of State it must send him notice of the endorsement.

(3) Where on an appeal against any such order the appeal is allowed, the court by which the appeal is allowed must send notice of that fact to the Secretary of State.

(4) A notice sent by a court to the Secretary of State in pursuance of this section must be sent in such manner and to such address and contain such particulars as the Secretary of State may determine, and a licence so sent in pursuance of this section must be sent to such address as the Secretary of State may determine.

48 Exemption from disqualification and endorsement for offences against construction and use regulations

Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 42(1) of the [1988 c. 52.] Road Traffic Act 1988 (contravention of construction and use regulations) committed in a manner described against that section in column 5 of Part I of Schedule 2 to this Act, the court must not—

(a) order him to be disqualified, or

(b) order any particulars or penalty points to be endorsed on any licence held by him,

if he proves that he did not know, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the facts of the case were such that the offence would be committed.

49 Offender escaping consequences of endorseable offence by deception

(1) This section applies where in dealing with a person convicted of an offence involving obligatory endorsement a court was deceived regarding any circumstances that were or might have been taken into account in deciding whether or for how long to disqualify him.

(2) If—

(a) the deception constituted or was due to an offence committed by that person, and

(b) he is convicted of that offence,

the court by or before which he is convicted shall have the same powers and duties regarding an order for disqualification as had the court which dealt with him for the offence involving obligatory endorsement but must, in dealing with him, take into account any order made on his conviction of the offence involving obligatory endorsement.

50 Powers of district court in Scotland

Nothing in section 10 of this Act empowers a district court in Scotland in respect of any offence—

(a) to impose—

(i) a penalty of imprisonment which exceeds sixty days, or

(ii) a fine which exceeds level 4 on the standard scale, or

(b) to impose disqualification.