England & Wales

Ok could someone clarify the below for me :D Summary offences - These are always held in a magistrates court. e.g minor traffic offences, drink drive. If they plead guilty it is heard by one judge, if its not guilty its 3 magistrates or a "bench"? Under no circumstances are these heard in a crown court? Either-way offences: Theft for eg are heard in magistrates court to begin with. Then who decides whether its heard in a crown court or magistrate. Magistrate or suspect. Indictable-only offences: these are automatically heard in a crown court, and more serious murders etc are heard in a high court? And magistrates have the power to dish out 6 months per offence up t…

Hi I'm new to the forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place or has already been raised but could anyone give advice on the following. With the recent winter weather we have been having I have noticed many car drivers clear their front windscreen but often don't bother with their rear windscreen either leaving it completly frosted over or covered in inches of snow. This seems dangerous to me. What if any offence could the driver be charged with? Would a defence of the driver arguing his rear view vision is no different to that of a van driver (in that he can rely on his wing mirrors) be likely to succeed?

When I've had people charged with common assault it has been "contrary to s.39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988". However, seeing as the act only defines that "common assault and battery shall be summary offences" and doesn't actually define the offence then surely people should be charged with: "common assault contrary to common law"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfQrDK9YHas Just come across this clip on youtube. What do you think? Would you have approached him or just left it?

Anyone tell me if Cheshire gives you personal PIs to hit. Where i am we have personal PIs that i dont agree with, you end up targetting the wrong people. Im askin because im thinking of transferring. Not that the PIs is reason for leaving, its cause of the travelling!!

Is a 3 line number plate legal on a motorbike?? A friend of mine is compleatly over-hauling his wifes motorbike that has a 3 line number plate on and she really want to keep it as it "really works with the look of the back end of the bike" And is having great dificulity getting an answer to this question, Having asked at his local police station, Vosa and a motorbike MOT station we cannot find any specific info on this, so can any 1 on here say? Thanks in advance http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring Motorcycles and tricycles Motorcycles registered from 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle. Motorcycles registered before 1…

I was asked a question recently on the use of metal bull bars on 4x4's. Am I right in thinking that they are now illegal to use unless they were fitted by the manufacturer when first produced?

It is almost impossible for legislation to keep up with technological advances in motor vehicle design but I was pondering on the position with regard to the point at which a multi-element LED rear light fails to meet the requirements of being a rear light under the points to prove for the offence. If for example the LED light has 32 elements, how many have to fail to illuminate for it not to be considered to be illuminating. If it is like a dual bulb motorcycle headlight then failure of one bulb does constitute failure of the headlight. So of the 32 LEDs within the light, 1 is permitted to fail without question but what about 15 failures, or 17 failures or 31 failures?…

First of all, I work in a police environment, and I'm a serving special... Our debate in the office started about cautions and convictions. We get many calls to our office everyday from MOPs asking whether something is still on their record. Most people are unaware that since the Bichard Enquiry, cautions and convictions stay on their record indefinitely. One of the other misconceptions is that a caution/reprimand means you “didn’t do itâ€. I explain to them always, that if you accept a caution, it means you admit guilt. You committed the crime, but for whatever reason, they decided a caution was appropriate. Convictions typically mean that you have gone to court and…

Just a quick one on disqual driving. Is it arrestable? Act & Section where the power of arrest comes from? Many thanks. ktang

As title suggests, I am looking for reference books, police law etc? Based in Scotland. Many thanks in advance!

Can anyone please tell me the legality of the old style driving licence? (i.e. the ones without photo ID) Are they still legit or was there a cut off period whereby drivers were expected to exchange them for a photo ID driving licence within a certain period of time? The reason I ask is that there is a (rather pedantic) work colleague of mine who still has the old style licence and refuses to exchange it for a photo ID. This old licence is registered at his mum's address (not his own) which I've pointed out is illegal for a start but notwithstanding this, is the old licence still valid?

Hello, I just watched this I was thinking, is there actually a definition anywhere of what constitutes 'insulting words' or is it based on the officer's discretion and the context of the situation? Thanks (I understand that this isn't a legal forum, just wondering if anyone had any ideas)

I know I know these threads have been around for years now but a quick question that came into my head while reading the various old threads on here. Say you pulled over a public vehicle that had a blue light fitted or the person was wearing police marked clothing and they turned out to be an off duty special or PC. Could they be done for Impersonation as they are already a constable?? If not what would be the offence?? - Just like that Emoticon :D Cheers All