Lawyers slam courts
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by Rob Willock • Magistrates' rulings on road transport cases are "a complete lottery" and should be subject to more reliable legal guidance, according to several transport law firms.
The lawyers are complaining that they can put virtually the same evidence before magistrates in two similar cases, especially those involving wheelloss and overloading infringements, and often two different verdicts will be given.
"I'm having more successes than casualties on these cases," says Anton Balkitis of Nottinghambased legal practice Rotheras, "but it's a bit of a lottery."
Drivers are currently unable to appeal to a precedent of "mystery wheel loss", but some magistrates are accepting the argument while others are not. "Where drivers check their wheelnuts daily it's difficult to find negligence," Balkitis adds.
"It would be good to have some more consistency," confirms Andrew Woolfall of Manchester practice Jonathan S Lawton. "Better training for magistrates is the answer and, ultimately, specialist magistrates. Magistrates often just rely on their guidelines; they listen to the mitigation but don't apply it. Many don't know about commercial vehicles and it's very frustrating."
A spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's department says that the court clerk is always on hand to give magistrates legal guidance. There are also sentencing guidelines issued from the Home Office.
But she adds that there are no plans to introduce specialist transport magistrates.