Safe Speed Forums

This fro Idris Francis by email:

This from copy of British Weights and Measures newslette. Nov 04

"The Divisional Court Ruling"

A crack has appeared in the February 2002 ruling that convicted Steve
Thoburn and fellow traders Peter Collins. Julian Harman, John Dove and
Colin Hunt. A supporter "(of BMWA Idris) "who received an order by a local
authority to pay a parking fine through the post has staved off collection
of the fine by quoting the Bill of Rights Act 1689, "That all grants and
promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction
are illegal and void." This means that no fines can be imposed unless and
until a court of law finds the individual guilty and convicts accordingly.

Of course, under Constitutional law, the Bill of Rights Act 1689 is
repealed by the Road Traffic Act 1991"

(comment by Idris In fact the Bill of Rights Act remains in place,as
confirmed recently by the House of Lords Library. I take the sentence to
mean that the effect of the Bill of Rights on traffic penalties was in
effect repealed by the Road Traffic Act 1991)

"This is because the Road Traffic Act provides for fining outside a court
of law. Under British law it is always the later Act which takes precedence.

However Lord Justice Laws said in the 'Metric Martyrs' judgement (sections
62 and 63, "We should recognise a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament: as it
were "ordinary" statutes and "constitutional statutes". The special status
of Constitutional statutes follows the special status of Constitutional
rights. Examples are the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights 1689, The Act of
Union........ ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional
statutes may not...." Thus, he said, the European Communities Act 1972,
requring metric, could and must repeal the Weights and Measures Act 1985
(allowing lb/oz) because the former was "Constitutional" and the latter
"ordinary."

Herein lies the conflict. If the Lord Justice Laws judgement is true, every
local authority, Government agency and police force that fines people
through the post, or on the spot,, is now acting illegally, since the Bill
of Rights Act 1689 was specifically named by Laws as a "a constitutional
Act." The Road Traffic Act 1991, by contrast, is an "ordinary" Act. Unless
the Road Traffic Act expressly refers to the Bill of Rights in its text
(which it does not) it must fall by the wayside. So the question arises:
why are public authorities still collecting revenue in this apparently
illegal fashion?

BWMA in collaboration with the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund will be
exploring means of bringing this uncertainty to the fore. We ask that any
BWMA member who received a parking fine (or similar) please contact us for
information on how to ask their local authority some very awkward questions."

BWMA PO Box 590 London WCIX OUB
0208 922 0089
Website www.bwmaonline.com
Press Office David Delaney 01544 267 197

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety