Divisional Court Cases
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835301700203 |
| Published date | 01 April 1953 |
| Date | 01 April 1953 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Divisional Court Cases
USING
AN
UNLICENSED
MOTOR
VEmCLE
Holland v. Perry
IT is a general principle of our law
that
where
an
offence
has been committed
the
court shall
not
be hampered
by
any
statutory
provision forbidding
the
exercise of leniency
in favour of
the
wrongdoer. However, there have always
been a few exceptions, notably in respect of offences
resulting in a loss of public revenue.
It
is obviously
undesirable
that
aperson should
by
his omission
to
pay
some
duty
be placed in a more advantageous position
than
if he
had
obeyed
the
law. Recently
the
High Court was
called upon to consider a case of this nature (1952, 2Q.B.
923). The defendant was charged before
the
Caterham
(Surrey) justices with using a goods vehicle on a public
road without having
an
excise licence in respect of
the
vehicle contrary
to
s. 15 of
the
Vehicles (Excise) Act, 1949.
By this section
any
person using a mechanically propelled
Tehicle on a public road renders himself liable
to
whichever
is
the
greater of
the
following penalties
:-
(a)
an
excise penalty of £20 ;
(b)
an
excise penalty equal
to
three times
the
amount
of
the
duty
chargeable in respect of
the
vehicle.
The
annual
duty
payable in respect of this vehicle was
£30, so
that
the
penalty was £90. By s. 4 of
the
Summary
Jurisdiction Act, 1879 a court of summary jurisdiction has
power only to mitigate aprescribed penalty in respect
of
afirst offence
and
this
was
the
defendant's second offence,
but
by
s. 78 of
the
Excise Management Act, 1827 in
the
case of a second or subsequent offence
the
penalty could
not
be reduced below one-quarter.
By
s. 11 of
the
Vehicles
(Excise) Act, 1949 a licence
may
be
taken
out
for a lesser
period
than
ayear. Provision for
the
taking
out
of licenses
quarterly or for a lesser period was made
by
the
Road
Vehicles
(Part
Year Licensing) Order, 1939, which has
been
kept
in force under s. 30
(2)
of
the
Vehicles (Excise) Act,
1949.
In
the
present case
the
only evidence as
to
the
12S
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