The Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2020

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2020 No. 334

Road Traffic And Vehicles

The Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2020

Made

16th December 2020

Coming into operation in accordance with regulation 1(1)

Affirmed by resolution of the Assembly on

2nd February 2021

The Department for Infrastructure(1) makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 30(7) of the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(2) and now vested in it(3).

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2020 and shall come into operation on the day after the day on which it is affirmed by resolution of the Assembly.

(2) This Order does not apply to offences committed before this Order comes into operation.

Amendment of the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996

2.  In Part 1 of Schedule 1 (prosecution and punishment of offences) to the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, in column 7 of the entry relating to offences under Article 56A(4) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(5), for “3” substitute—

“(a) 3, in the case of an offence under Article 56A(a);

(b) 6, in the case of an offence under Article 56A(b).”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Infrastructure on 16th December 2020

Chris Hughes

A senior officer of the

Department for Infrastructure

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, to increase the number of obligatory penalty points attributable to an offence under section 56A(b) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (“the 1995 Order”) from three to six points.

Article 56A(b) of the 1995 Order relates to the offence of driving or supervising the driving of a motor vehicle while using a hand held mobile telephone, or other hand held interactive communication device or causing or permitting the driving of a motor vehicle by another person using such a telephone or other device.

An Explanatory Memorandum has been produced and is available from Safe and Accessible Travel Division, Department for Infrastructure, Clarence Court, 10-18 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8GB or online alongside this Order at http://www,legislation.gov.uk/nisr

(1)

Formerly the Department for Regional Development; see section 1(6) and (11) of, and schedule 1 to, the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (2016 c. 5 (N.I.)). Pursuant to section 1(9) of that Act, the Department of the Environment is dissolved

(2)

S.I. 1996/1320 (N.I. 10)

(3)

See Article 8(1)(b) of, and Part 2 of Schedule 5 to, the Departments (Transfer of Functions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 76)

(4)

Article 56A was inserted by Article 6(1) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/916 (N.I. 10)

(5)

S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I. 18)