Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, says police should not detain vehicles over unpaid traffic tickets, stressing that enforcement must be directed at the owner or driver responsible for the alleged offence.
Addressing the issue on his weekly Issues in the News programme, Nandlall said motorists and members of the media had sought clarification about how outstanding electronic tickets should be handled.
“The police ought not to detain the vehicle for an unpaid ticket. The police need to go against the driver or the owner,” he said.
“The vehicle has not committed the offence. It is the driver and or the owner that must answer for the charge.”
Nandlall specifically addressed situations in which a person is driving a vehicle with outstanding tickets but was not involved in the offences that generated them.
“So if I am driving a vehicle and that vehicle has tickets, because the vehicle will be captured, and there are outstanding tickets to be paid, and I am not implicated, then the vehicle ought not to be detained,” he explained.
According to the Attorney General, police must pursue the person identified in the ticket or notice, with the court providing a process for determining who was driving when the alleged offence occurred.
He explained that the electronic ticketing system initially relies on information about the vehicle’s registered owner, rather than details of every person who may drive it.
When a camera captures a ticketable offence, the notification process therefore begins with the registered owner. Nandlall outlined procedures involving an SMS alert and an electronic notice containing details of the alleged offence and the relevant court appearance.
He also referred to provisions for service through registered post and personal delivery by a police officer.
Where the registered owner was not driving, Nandlall said that person should explain this when appearing before the magistrate and identify the driver. He said the magistrate could then summon that individual to join the proceedings as a co-defendant.
The court would determine responsibility if the allegation is contested.
Nandlall further explained that a person who accepts the offence can pay the ticket through the magistrate’s court clerk rather than appear before the magistrate to contest it.
While expressing confidence in the electronic ticketing system, he said greater public understanding of its procedures was necessary.
“If you don’t know what the law says, then it’s difficult to expect you to obey the law,” he said.
He directed motorists to the 2024 amendments governing electronic ticketing, which he said were published in the Official Gazette of July 15, 2024.
