HI All

I have a court date next week to fight a ticket for an expired sticker. The charge on the notice of trial says "DRIVE MOTOR VEHICLE, NO PERMIT"

Is this the right charge? Shouldn't it be something like "DRIVE MOTOR VEHICLE, NO CURRENTLY VALIDATED PERMIT"? I am trying to read up on the offence. Where can I find the specific charges and how they are defined.

I can't find the actual ticket to see what it says.

Regards

Peter

There are often various charges that can be covered under a single section of the HTA. Court notices are often automatically generated and they simply go by the section, not the specific charge wording of your offence. The wording on the notices therefor can be different then the actual ticket itself.

In your case, driving without a valid permit falls under section 7 of the HTA, as does driving with no permit.

And just in case you're wondering, an error on the trial notice, unlike the ticket itself, isn't a defence in Court.

SO just to follow up, I went to court today for the ticket. I saw the police officer in court so no luck there. Basically, everyone with a simple ticket like mine, where they had an expired licence or plate etc, was just showing the prosecutor the paperwork that they had fixed the problem. I walked up and said hi, and showed her my ownership with a valid sticker on it. She said ok, take a seat. All the people in my situation were then called up, and the charges were withdrawn.

It couldn't have been easier.