Government plans to change the law by the back door.
Who of you has ever been 'fined' by a private car parking firm? Well hopefully those of you that have knew enough about English Law not to be duped into paying by threats of court action etc. You see it has been a central plank of English law that one cannot be fined before being convicted of a crime. You can thank our little quoted Bill of Rights for protection against bullies who would threaten you with arbitrary 'fines' and punishments.
As a result private parking matters are civil matters revolving around contract law. Basically if you willingly enter into a contract with another party and then breach the terms of that contract the injured party can only claim his actual losses by way of compensation and can in no way seek to punish or penalise you. This means that if you park in a free of charge car park and fail to see some sign informing you that you will be liable to some sort of penalty charge if the private car parking company send you an invoice then all they can claim through the courts is the actual amount they lost and not the £75 they like to charge I.e. £0 because it's a free car park.
The government have decided that because the private parking companies never win in court what is needed is an independant panel who can look at 'appeals' and make rulings.
Excuse me, but we already have an independant body capable of looking at 'appeals' in a fair manner- ITS CALLED THE COUNTY COURT.
How on earth can some tribunal add an element of fairness to a private parking 'fine' when our laws already make them UNENFORCIBLE???
All I can say is that the idea is to make it easier for these bully boy companies to illegally make more money by frightening people into paying money they have NO LEGAL reason to pay.
All that was needed was the government to tell the private car park companies to stop issuing threats of court action if the driver disputed the fact any contract between them had ever exsisted. By making a tribunal they legalise something without any new law being passed by Parliarment. Even Councils had to have an Act of Parliarment before they could issue parking penalties. So much for the rule of law in NuLabour's hell hole of a country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8450403.stm
As a result private parking matters are civil matters revolving around contract law. Basically if you willingly enter into a contract with another party and then breach the terms of that contract the injured party can only claim his actual losses by way of compensation and can in no way seek to punish or penalise you. This means that if you park in a free of charge car park and fail to see some sign informing you that you will be liable to some sort of penalty charge if the private car parking company send you an invoice then all they can claim through the courts is the actual amount they lost and not the £75 they like to charge I.e. £0 because it's a free car park.
The government have decided that because the private parking companies never win in court what is needed is an independant panel who can look at 'appeals' and make rulings.
Excuse me, but we already have an independant body capable of looking at 'appeals' in a fair manner- ITS CALLED THE COUNTY COURT.
How on earth can some tribunal add an element of fairness to a private parking 'fine' when our laws already make them UNENFORCIBLE???
All I can say is that the idea is to make it easier for these bully boy companies to illegally make more money by frightening people into paying money they have NO LEGAL reason to pay.
All that was needed was the government to tell the private car park companies to stop issuing threats of court action if the driver disputed the fact any contract between them had ever exsisted. By making a tribunal they legalise something without any new law being passed by Parliarment. Even Councils had to have an Act of Parliarment before they could issue parking penalties. So much for the rule of law in NuLabour's hell hole of a country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8450403.stm
posted by Mr Insignificant at 10:11 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home