Whenever you are charged with a traffic offence there is usually the scope to try and negotiate those charges with the police prosecutor or the Office of the Department of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”). This is known as case conferencing in Queensland. For the purpose of this article, we will use two examples. One is an unlicensed driving charge, the other is a dangerous operation of a motor vehicle charge (“dangerous driving”). Negotiations with the police prosecution unit or DPP are almost exclusively done by lawyers. You can of course self-represent yourself and negotiate with the prosecutor and prosecutors are always…

A drink driving charge is one of the most common offences dealt with in Queensland Courts. Over 30,000 people face court each year charged with drink driving. Knowing how a court will deal with a drink driving charge is important for anyone facing the court for this charge.   How Drink driving Offences are Dealt with Generally In general terms, drink driving matters are dealt with “summarily”, which means that they are dealt with in a Queensland Magistrates Court, rather than in the higher courts, such as the District or Supreme Court. This is true whether you plead guilty or…

Whether you call it a hardship licence, a special hardship licence, a high speed suspension licence or demerit point licence you are likely to have questions about what will happen in court. From the almost 1,000 successful special hardship applications we at Clarity Law have made the following are the most frequently asked questions.  This information applies only to hardship licence applications in Queensland.   What time should I arrive? You should arrive no later than 30 minutes before the time your special hardship application is to be heard (45 minutes is better). The time will be listed on your…

At Clarity Law we have been able to assist almost a thousand people obtain a Special Hardship Order ("SHO") since 2010. We have obviously been able to acquire a lot of knowledge during this time and this guide is meant to give people a basic understanding of what it might take to apply for a hardship licence in Queensland. Special hardship licences are also sometimes referred to demerit point licences or just hardship licences. For more information contact us on 1300 952 255 or visit our Special Hardship Order page or our main page at www.drivinglaw.com.au   Introduction A special…

If you appear in a Queensland court charged with a traffic offence such as drink driving, drug driving or dangerous driving and plead guilty or are found guilty then the court will likely disqualify your drivers licence (many offences such as drink driving and drug driving carry mandatory minimum periods of disqualification). The purpose of this article is to give people some guidance as to what occurs after you leave the court if your licence has been disqualified. Do I Get to keep my Physical Licence? No, you are required to surrender your licence to Queensland Transport by the day…

Recent changes to the legislation covering special hardship orders (SHO) will increase the amount of people who can apply in Queensland. Currently people who elect to go on a good driving behaviour period after accruing too many demerit points and then exceed the demerit points on that driving behaviour period or those who commit a high speed offence (over 40 km/h) may be able to apply for a special hardship order to allow them to drive for certain specified reasons, generally work related. All the details on special hardship licences and the eligibility requirements can be found on our special…

In Queensland, it is an offence to fail to provide a specimen of breath, or saliva for the purposes of determining a person’s blood alcohol concentration. Strictly speaking, there are two types of offences for failing to provide a specimen of breath or saliva. The first offence occurs when a person fails to provide a sample other than at a police station or in a booze bus. It is common for this kind of offence to occur at a roadside RBT, although it could happen somewhere else, such as a person’s home. The other offence occurs when a person fails…