Chambers Blog

A person is guilty of an offence if they drive, or attempt to drive, a motor vehicle on a road or other public place after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in breath, urine or blood exceeds the prescribed limit. Nearly everyone will know that it an offence to drive whilst drunk (or under the influence of drugs) but few will know of the consequences of such a conviction. Not only would it raise your car insurance but it will also result in a mandatory ban from driving. You will be disqualified for at least 12 months (considerably longer if this isn't your first conviction for such an offence). In addition to a ban, you will also be fined and if your reading is too high a prison sentence is a possibility. It is also an offence to fail to provide a specimen. People will often try anything in an attempt to keep their driving licence, and often end up putting forward preposterous suggestions forward to the Court. This will not help matters, and proper legal advice should be sought in respect of potential defences.Lay clients can either brief a barrister through a solicitor or they can come direct to a barrister under the direct access, or as it is sometimes known public access, scheme.

Most people have driven above the speed limit on at least one occasion, either by choice or accident. As with regulatory offences, you will most likely be sent a notice of intention to prosecute and you will be asked to admit guilt. If you admit guilt, this will lead to the endorsing of your licence and the imposition of points. In some cases you will be summonsed to Court where the excessive speed could lead to disqualification from driving. In some cases there may have been a reason for driving at such speed, and this will have to be explained to the Court in defence or mitigation. Further, the evidence itself may well need to be thoroughly examined, e.g. to ensure correct procedure followed, etc, before a properly considered plea entered at Court. Even where you are only a few mile per hour over the limit you are still liable for conviction. Lay clients can either brief a barrister through a solicitor or they can come direct to a barrister under the public access, or as it is sometimes known direct access, scheme.

Many people will not worry about the consequences of committing such offences, e.g. having no television licence or driving with no insurance. They may consider that the risk is justified by the lack of punishment they would receive if they were caught and convicted. However, this is not the case. A conviction for such an offence can lead to the imposition of a fine and, in some cases, imprisonment. In the case of driving with no insurance, it could also result in a person being banned from driving. Such offences should not be taken lightly. If charged (in most cases you will be merely summonsed to Court) it is recommended that you are represented by a legally qualified person, as this can be a technical area of law and skilled advocacy is required to mitigate on your behalf. Lay clients can either brief a barrister through a solicitor or they can come direct to a barrister under the direct access, or as it is sometimes known public access, scheme.

Public access, or as it is also sometimes known direct access, to a barrister commenced in 2004. This was allowed in order to give lay clients a wider choice of legal services which it was beleived would be quicker and cheaper for them.

 Public access, direct access is becoming an increasingly large proportion of work that is done by the bar. However, not all barristers can work directly with lay clients. When dealing with a litigant in person there is often special care that is required and therefore more senior barristers tend to do public access or direct access and they are required to undertake a special course prior to undertaking work for lay clients.

From it's inception, direct access, public access has worked well which has led to an extension of the areas of work that barristers can do under this scheme. In particular family work has seen a marked increase in access to the bar. Also, criminal work has proved a popular area for lay clients in certain offences. These include speeding offences, drink driving, traffic light offences, RSPCA cases and other matters of this nature. Another growth area has been licensing of pubs, clubs and restaurants as well as other social venues.

The extension of direct access or public access, as it is also known, into the areas of family and crime has meant that there has been a significant increase in work for barristers in these fields. In criminal work this has been particularly noticeable with road traffic offences such as drink driving, speeding offences, careless driving and reckless driving seeing the main growth. There has also been a substantial increase in people looking for licensing lawyers and employment lawyers through direct access, public access. However, probably the greatest area of growth in the direct access, public access barristers scheme is with clients searching for a personal injury lawyer to conduct their case.

 Anyone wishing to instruct a barrister in a direct access, public access case can find more information on our direct access page.