The Gazette 1972

ing the fine at a Post Office. In this way a defaulter who wishes to pay his fine and take out a new licence at the same time would be facilitated. (12) The delivery of a notice under section 103 (Fine Notice) is an optional matter for the prosecuting officer and in the case of any breach of the regulations he may abstain from delivering the notice and instead may institute a prosecution. (13) The Committee are of opinion that the extension of the system to offences under the Road Traffic Regula- tions made in regard to equipment and lighting of mechanically propelled vehicles would bring in its train one very important result apart from the saving of court time and police time. The particular result we have in mind is the opportunity to have equipment defects corrected before these defects lead to accidents. The present position is that prosecutions in regard to in- fringements of thfese regulations are brought mainly after the occurrence of road accidents. The public in- terest would, of course, be best served by having an efficient and expeditious system in operation whereby these infringements could be detected and remedied as soon as possible. The "On the Spot Fines" system would seem to provide the answer if the wording of the Fine Notice were expanded to require the offender, when paying his fine at the appropriate Garda Station to produce the vehicle to show that the defect or defects in question had been remedied. We recommend that this course be adopted. (14) The Committee has also given some considera- tion to the question as to whether the Fine Notice (expanded as indicated in paragraph 13) might re- quire the offender to get, within a specified period after the service of the notice, a clearance certificate from the Garda Siochana to the effect that the vehicle has complied in all respects with the equipment and light- ing regulations. However, we do not recommend this course in view of the extra demand on police time that would be involved. (15) With a view to making the preventive aspect of the system more effective, we recommend that a notice be published in the daily press from time to time warning the public that the enforcement of parti- cular regulations under the Road Traffic Acts (parti- cularly in regard to equipment of mechanically pro- A "Maigret" accused Dr. Nicola Scire, former Rome police superintendent, appeared here today accused of corruption, disclosing official secrets, and complicity in illegal gambling. Scire, who was arrested in May, 1969, was alleged to have received 350,000 lire (£240) a week from the owner of a secret gambling club. Twenty-five people, including three policemen, were also accused. If found guilty on all charges, Scire, nicknamed the Italian Maigret, could face between 11 and 42 years in prison, a life's ban on holding office, and large fines. He was alleged to have given tip-offs about planned

pelled vehicles) would be actively pursued during a particular stated period. We feel that this would be a useful reminder to the public and an indication that the law was more concerned with securing the remedy of defects rather than fining defaulters. (16) The recommendations in this report are those of all the members of the Committee save to the extent that the Hon. Mr. Justice John Kenny has set out in his Note of Dissent which is appended hereto. Signed : Brian Walsh, Chairman 23rd July 1971 J. K. Waldron, Secretary (1) I do not agree with the recommendation in paragraph 8(1) that the "On the Spot Fines" system should be applied to offences in connection with mechanical or other defects in motor vehicles. I think that a person who drives a motor car which he kn&ws has a mechanical defect or smooth tyres or bad brakes commits an offence which involves a high degree of moral culpability. There is little difference in moral blame between the offences of driving when drunk and of using a motor car which is known to be defective. I do not agree that a small penalty is appropriate for such a crime and I am convinced that the nominal penalties (lOp for each defective tyre) which are im- posed in some district court areas for offences of this type have led to the view that they are trivial. (2) The application of the "On the Spot Fines" system to these offences will confirm the view that they are not grave. I find it difficult to believe that anyone can think that a fine of £2 is appropriate for a case where a person drives a car with brakes or tyres which he knows are defective. (3) The number of serious accidents will continue to increase unless we take effective steps to punish those who drive defective vehicles. I hope that the next Act amending the Road Traffic code will provide for mandatory disqualification from driving of one year at least when a person is convicted of driving a defective vehicle. 23rd July, 1971 John Kenny NOTE OF DISSENT BY THE HON. Mr. JUSTICE KENNY

police raids. A high-level reshuffle in the Italian police took place after his arrest. Today's first hearing was devoted mainly to defence arguments that recorded telephone conversations, which form the basis of the prosecution's case, should not be admitted as evidence. In Melegnano, the Public Prosecutor, Signor Fran- cesco Novello, bought a copy of the first Italian language edition of Playboy and then ordered a nation- wide confiscation of the magazine.—Reuter and UPI. —Guardian , 7th November 1972

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