Motorists contesting speeding prosecutions on the basis that Garda laser guns provide no permanent record are one step closer to having their cases dealt with after the decision by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) not to continue with a case in the High Court this week.
The move suggests that the DPP now accepts there could be a problem with wording in the 2002 Road Traffic Act.
The Act has since been superseded by the Road Traffic Act 2004, which clarifies the language on laser guns and the need for a permanent record. However, there are still hundreds of outstanding contested cases brought before the new Act came into force on January 20th.
The High Court case was initiated after a hearing in Carrick-on-Shannon last July in which a motorist was stopped by a Garda using a speed laser gun.
The defendant contested the prosecution because there was no permanent record of the alleged speed. The judge sought the High Court's opinion on whether the use of speed guns which do not produce permanent records meets the requirements of the 2002 Act.
However, when the case reached the High Court on Monday, the man's solicitor was told that the DPP was not proceeding. The court will now make a final determination on the case next Monday, a decision which will be looked at closely by motorists contesting similar charges.
Although the Courts Service could not provide an exact number of contested speeding prosecutions, it's believed to be in the hundreds. However, the High Court decision will affect only motorists contesting outstanding cases initiated before the 2004 Act came into force on January 20th this year.
The new Act contains an amendment allowing charges using evidence from either equipment "which is not capable of producing a permanent record".
Despite the DPP's decision on the steps of the High Court, the Garda have confirmed that they will continue with all contested prosecutions. "Our advice would still be to attend court," said a Garda spokesperson. "Don't assume that the prosecution will be dropped. There is certainly no blanket decision to stop these prosecutions."
The DPP said, whatever the High Court ruling, each case would continue to be assessed individually.
The Department of Transport blamed the "narrrow interpretation" of the law by some judges of the 2002 Act for the problems with prosecutions.