Clarity Law

Specialist Traffic Law Firm Queensland

Displaying items by tag: licence reinstatement

If your licence is disqualified by a Queensland Court for a period in excess of 2 years or is disqualified absolutely you are able to apply for your licence to be reinstated after you have served a minimum of 2 years of the disqualification period. Under no circumstances can you apply for your licence to be reinstated before you have served at least 2 years of that disqualification.

The application is made by applying to the Court closest to where you currently reside for them to reinstate your licence. If your disqualification was in the Magistrates Court then the application will be heard in a Magistrates Court. However, if you disqualification was decided by a District or Supreme Court your application must be heard there.

In order to apply you need to provide the court with extensive affidavit evidence showing clearly why your licence should be returned to you.  Generally the affidavit needs to address how the lack of licence affects you financially and how it affects your family. The affidavit would also need to address your behaviour after your licence was disqualified and the circumstances of the original offence. The Affidavit will detail all the ways in which you being unable to drive is having a detrimental effect on you, your income and/or working ability, and, if applicable, your family and those around you.

It is critical to prove to the Court that:

  1. You have changed and realise the importance of your licence;
  2. That you can be trusted with a drivers licence;
  3. That you will not reoffend, should your licence be reinstated.

The licence reinstatement application and supporting documentation is then filed with the Prosecution and the relevant Court. All licence reinstatement applications must be filed at least 28 days before your application can be heard in Court. The prosecutor will look into your application and quite often approach your neighbours to enquire if they have witnessed you driving etc. It is also essential that you attend a driving course or workshop like QTOP as that adds great strength to the application. Your traffic history and criminal history is also filed in support of the licence reinstatement application. It is obviously extremely beneficial if you have not received any charges, in any form, since your licence was disqualified.

Often, Courts can be reluctant to grant a licence reinstatement, however, we have a 100% success rate. To ensure you have the best chance of being successful with your licence reinstatement application it is critical that you engage a Lawyer to prepare the affidavit material and appear in Court with you to argue the application before the Court. The most important reason why you should not attempt to represent yourself for a licence reinstatement application is due to the fact that should the Court not grant your application you cannot re-apply to have your licence reinstated for another 12 months  

If you have been disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence outside Queensland, then you need to contact the Court you were disqualified in to apply to have your disqualification removed. You cannot have it removed by a Queensland court.

We are happy to discuss, free of charge, the likeliness of your licence reinstatement application being successful.  

Here at Clarity Law we regularly undertake Licence Reinstatement Application, it is this experience, and our expertise that allows us to get the absolute best result for clients.  Other law firms simply don’t have the experience that we do and don’t know the process and the Magistrates like we do.  We also offer one of the most competitive prices for Licence Reinstatement Applications in Queensland.

If you want to engage us or just need further information or advice then you can either;

  • Use our contact form and we will contact you by email or phone at a time that suits you
  • Call us on 1300 952 255 seven days a week, 7am to 7pm
  • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Please visit our disclaimer page at www.drivinglaw.com.au/disclaimer.html 

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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 after the court disqualifies you or to the police prosecutor at the court. It is an offence to be in possession of a licence if you have been disqualified by a court.

The surrender of your licence may in some circumstances deprive you of your main form of identification, you may therefore wish to attend Queensland Transport before the court and obtain a proof of age card to help with identification during your period of disqualification.

 

When does the Disqualification Begin?

The disqualification starts immediately. You would not be able to drive once you leave the court

 

What does this mean if you hold a licence granted outside of Queensland?

If disqualified, you are not authorised to drive on a road in Queensland under your non-Queensland driver licence during the disqualification period.  If your licence is from another state in Australia then your disqualification should prevent you from driving anywhere in Australia. You will need to check with your local transport authority.

 

What happens if you have any Industry or Driver Authorisations?

The disqualification period will also apply to any Industry or Driver Authorisation held by you (for   example a taxi, tow truck, bus, limousine, dangerous goods, driver trainer or pilot vehicle licence).   At the end of the disqualification period you will be required to visit or contact a Queensland Transport Centre or licence issuing agent to have your eligibility to hold an Industry or Driver authorisation reassessed.

 

What happens if you drive during your disqualification?

If you are found driving during your disqualification period, you will be charged with disqualified driving and you will be required to appear in court. If the charge is proven, the court will further disqualify you for a period of at least 2 years to a maximum of 5 years and may impose a substantial fine or sentence you to term of imprisonment for up to 18 months.  If you keep getting these offences you are going to need a good criminal lawyer.

 

How do I pay my fine?

Generally any fine can be referred to SPER. You can arrange with SPER to make payments on the fine or to pay it in one lump sum. For more information on SPER visit www.sper.qld.gov.au/. Alternatively you can pay the fine at the court but there may be a short delay as the information from the sentence is entered into the database.

 

Offender Levy

As from 21 August 2012 all people who plead guilty or are found guilty in the Magistrates Court must pay a levy (currently $125.80) in addition to any penalty imposed by the Magistrate.  The levy is separate from any monetary penalty we have advised the Magistrate may impose.  More details can be found at http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/about/offender-levy

 

What happens after my disqualification period?

After the period of disqualification has ended you will need to attend Queensland Transport and reapply for your licence. You cannot simply start driving after your disqualification period has ended. Please don’t drive to Queensland Transport as you are not entitled to drive until after you have been to Queensland Transport. Also remember to bring 100 points of ID.

After you have been disqualified you will be on a probationary licence for 1 year, this means that;

  1. You have only 4 demerit points available
  2. You have a zero alcohol limit for 1 years

You do not have to re-sit any tests to get your licence back (if you have held a licence in the past 5 years).

Please note that if you have more than one disqualification period imposed for example if you committed two offences that carried separate disqualification periods or you were already serving a disqualification then your disqualifications may run cumulatively meaning they run one after the other and not at the same time. You will need to check with Queensland Transport about this. If your licence disqualifications add up to more than 2 years you might be eligible to apply for a licence reinstatement after 2 years. More information on licence reinstatements is available on our website.

 

Interlock

Please note you may be required to have an interlock device fitted to your vehicle once you are eligible to obtain your driver’s licence back. This requirement applies to certain drink driving charges. The court has no discretion to allow you not to do this as it is a Queensland Transport licencing requirement. This is an area that is subject to constant change, for more information visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Licensing/Licence-suspensions-and-disqualifications/Alcohol-ignition-interlocks.aspx

 

How do I get more help or engage you to act for me? 

We have been operating since 2010 and undertaken 1000’s of drink driving charges throughout South East Queensland.

If you want to engage us or just need further information or advice then you can either;

  1. Use our contact form and we will contact you by email or phone at a time that suits you
  2. Call us on 1300 952 255 seven days a week, 7am to 7pm
  3. email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  4. Visit our main website or drink driving or work licence page

We cover all courts in South East Queensland from the Gold Coast to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast and out to Toowoomba.  We have 6 offices in South East Queensland to assist people. We are a no pressure law firm, we are happy to provide information to assist you, if you want to engage us then great, if not then you at least have more information about drink driving. You won’t be chased or hounded to engage us.  Remember its critical you get advice before going to court, a drink driving charge no matter the reading will have an impact on you, your family and your employment or business.  

 

Need more information?

We have a range of articles on drink driving on our blog.  Some of the most recent have included:

This article general information only and not legal advice and is rewritten subject to our disclaimer that can be read by clicking here

Published in Legal Blog