Northern Ireland Traffic Penalty Tribunal — statutory grounds for representation
The grounds on which an NI motorist may make representations are exhaustively listed in regulation 5 of the Parking and Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notices (Representations and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (SR 2008/193). They include: contravention did not occur, vehicle taken without consent, hire firm transfer, exceeded penalty, procedural impropriety, TRO invalid, and (in some forms) more than one PCN. Many DfI rejection letters wrongly limit the grounds. A motorist asserting any of the statutory grounds is entitled to a substantive answer; failure to engage = procedural impropriety.
Legal basis
Parking and Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notices (Representations and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (SR 2008/193) reg 5; Traffic Management (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 Sched 1 para 4
How to identify this in your case
If DfI rejects representations without engaging with the actual statutory ground raised, this defence applies on appeal to the Tribunal.
Sample appeal wording
Dear Adjudicator, Re: NI TPT Appeal [REF] In my representations of [DATE] I raised the statutory ground of [GROUND] under regulation 5 of SR 2008/193. The Department's Notice of Rejection of [DATE] does not engage with that ground; it asserts only that [DEPT POSITION]. This is procedural impropriety within regulation 5(c) of SR 2008/193. I respectfully ask that the appeal be allowed. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2008/193
- legislation.gov.uk/nisi/2005/1964