Motoring offence? You can now enter a plea on the internet

Drivers charged with a minor motoring offence in England and Wales will soon be able to make a plea on the web, by means of a desktop, tablet or smartphone, alternatively of creating a postal plea or a court look.

The ‘Make a Plea’ service will be rolled out across from March following a effective trial in Manchester.

For the duration of the trial about 1,200 folks – or a third of applicable defendants – utilized the site to enter a plea.

It’s all element of a government bid to modernise the legal program and save cash. It will also lessen the workload of police and courts, permitting them to concentrate on much more complex cases.

Sitting on the offence

Minor motoring offences accounted for 500,000 court appearances final year. The higher volumes take up large amounts of court time and can clog up the system.

Often the offender decides not to seem, choosing as an alternative to plead guilty by post or enable the case to be heard in their absence.

Shailesh Vara, courts minister, says: “Digital technology provides us an opportunity to make the justice system easier, clearer and faster. Part of this means reducing or removing the unnecessary movement of paper, and men and women, around the method.”

Study this: Motoring conviction codes

Pleas please me

So how does the Make a Plea Service function?

If you are charged with a minor motoring offence, such as speeding or driving without having insurance coverage, you can now make a plea on the internet.

In other words, you do not have to bother with the paperwork of a postal plea, or seem in court.

The new digital technique enables defendants to make their plea from any device, 24-hours-a-day, by means of a safe web site – and they nevertheless get maximum credit for early guilty pleas.

Defendants can also see their case details on-line and view the evidence ahead of indicating their plea of guilty or not guilty.

Guilt trips

The service has been developed with court customers, and the Ministry of Justice claims that identifying and concluding guilty plea cases earlier will save time, operate and money for taxpayers, motorists and court staff.

The Make a Plea service will initially apply only to motoring offences but it could eventually be extended to other low-level offences as part of the government’s plan to modernise the justice program.

The coalition is investing £160 million in digital technologies for courtrooms such as video links, wi-fi and enhanced IT systems to end the system’s reliance on paper.

Motoring offence? You can now enter a plea on the internet