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Cases have recognised that a conviction can have ‘social and legal consequences’ outside the courtroom.
Zhai & Associates recently achieved an excellent result for an 18-year-old man who was seeking leniency from the court for 2 speeding offences as a Provisional 1 (P1) License holder. The man had no prior record of driving offences required his license for work and competitive sport.
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In NSW, the Demerit Point Scheme assigns points for traffic offences. A P1 license holder can only accrue a maximum of 4 points before their license is suspended for at least 3 months.
Speeding offences are dangerous and extremely prevalent amongst young drivers and so the Demerits Point Scheme is set up so that any speeding offence will cause them to accrue at least 4 points. Had the client just paid the fine he would have accrued 8 points.
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In this situation, the court has the choice to either uphold the original fine, reduce the amount or dismiss the matter without conviction, meaning the points are not applied to the license holder. Courts are extremely reluctant to dismiss the matter in these situations as it sends the wrong message to other young drivers and it can be viewed as ‘letting someone off’ with no punishment.
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However, principal solicitor Raymond Zhai successfully argued that a conviction should not be recorded for this young man. He received not 1 but 2 Conditional Release Orders without conviction with a condition to be of good behaviour for 12 months. As a result, the 8 demerit points will not be applied, the client will not lose his license and have to serve any period of suspension.
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If you are in a similar situation or know someone who is, enquire today at raymond@zhai.com.au or Contact Us to Book a Free Consultation and see if we can achieve this result for you too.