Legal decisions by a court, tribunal or the Traffic Commissioner are subject to a right to appeal.
The most common types of appeals for a transport company are against :
- a public inquiry decision
- conviction or sentence by a magistrates court
- employment tribunal decision
- impouding case
- driver conduct hearing
Time limits for making an appeal are very tight. For example, a magistrates conviction must be appealed within 21 days, for a public inquiry decision it is 28 days.
In most cases, the grounds of appeal are very narrow. For example, to appeal a public inquiry decision, you have to show grounds that there had been either an error of law on the part of a traffic commissioner, unfairness in the proceedings or that the Commissioner was “plainly wrong”. This is very different to an appeal against a magistrates decision where the grounds are much more relaxed and the appeal is effectively a re-run of all the issues and evidence.
All appeals follow a similar process. This starts with submitting the appeal papers (that have to be done within the strict time limits). You then get notice of the date of the appeal hearing and prepare for it. There is then an appeal hearing where your case is put to the appeal judge.
The final step is the appeal judge’s decision which might be given at the end of the appeal hearing itself or might be given as a written decision on a later date. Decisions in a Traffic Commissioner appeal are nearly always given in writing a few weeks after the actual appeal hearing.
Contact Us to Discuss your Case
If you want to appeal a decision or conviction or are in the process of doing so then get in touch with us to discuss your case. We offer a free telephone consultation. Contact us now on 0800 1777 522.
