On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:06:13 -0000, a particular chimpanzee named "Uno produced:
Because before automated systems, when a police constable stopped you, it was obvious who the person driving was; it was the one in the driver's seat (unless you'd been able to change places without him spotting). It was then a case of the PC establishing the idenbreasty of that person (IANAL, but I suppose the police have the right to establish the idenbreasty of any person anywhere if they have reasonable cause to do so), but that person wasn't incriminating themselves by doing so.
Now with GATSOs, etc, the Notice of Intended Prosecution is virtually saying, "we think an offence has been committed, but we're not sure by who. If you don't tell us now, we'll buttume it was the registered keeper and do you for not telling us". There's no presumption of innocence there; the police are saying it's up to you to prove you weren't there.
One that often pops up in forums like this is, "the police have sent a NIP for a date and place where I couldn't possibly have been" (a city the person never visits, or a when they were in work and the car was parked up). The form asks if they were the driver at the time, and if they weren't, to say who was. No room on the form for, "no-one was driving" or, "it can't possibly have been my car".
What happens to the presumption of innocence? It's up to those prosecuting to gather the evidence to prove that the person so accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and it's one of the cornerstones of our (crumbling) legal system that we shouldn't be forced to give evidence against ourselves. In your example, the owner of the vehicle may not have known who was driving and have an ironclad alibi, but they are being asked to incriminate themselves or someone else as the guilty party under the threat of being prosecuted for failing to do so.
It could be argued that motoring offences are relatively trivial and what does it matter if I'm required to tell the police who was driving, but in a system which runs on precedents, it's a dangerous one to set. Next thing you know, we'll be doing away with the right to silence, jury trials and habeas corpus. -- Hugo Nebula "If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"
