Many people contact us after receiving tickets to point out errors police officers made on the face of the ticket. They want to know whether these errors may invalidate these tickets. Whether an error will affect the validity of your ticket depends upon the type of error that was made.
Some errors absolutely will mean you no longer have to worry about the ticket and that it is not likely to continue to affect you. Other errors, however, will not make a difference.
A quick way to tell whether the mistake is likely to affect the ticket is to look at the ticket itself. On the ticket, there are some areas where information is entered that are shaded in darker grey in the background. Those parts of the ticket do not form part of the allegation itself, meaning they are not part of the charge that the officer is laying against you in issuing the traffic ticket.
If the error is in relation to any of that information on the darker grey portion of the ticket, then a mistake in that section does not invalidate the ticket.
There are also other errors that do not necessarily invalidate the ticket. For example, if the officer spells your name wrong, puts down the wrong licence plate, or writes the wrong address, they likely do not impact the validity of the ticket. While these errors may amount to defences in a trial, they do not get your ticket automatically cancelled.
In a trial, they go to the question of whether you were properly identified. In all cases, the Crown must prove the identity of the person who committed the offence. But be careful: coming to court and admitting you were the person who served the ticket or responding to the ticket itself can be relied upon as some evidence confirming your identity. And if you were to take the stand to argue that your identity is not established based on a misspelling, then you expose yourself to cross-examination in which you would have to admit you were driving if you were and if you are asked.
For this reason, the significance of the error is what is really going to affect whether it actually changes the validity of the ticket itself.
Think of it this way: if your name is Julia, and the ticket says Julie, the likelihood of you successfully arguing that the ticket was issued to the wrong person is relatively slim. These are the types of mistakes that are known as “clerical errors” or minor defects that can often be overlooked in court.
Other types of errors, such as errors with respect to the date, time or location where the ticket took place can have a significant impact. These errors go to the heart of the allegation that has to be proven in court. But just because
these mistakes have been made does not mean the ticket is invalid.
You still have to file the ticket in dispute, schedule a hearing date, attend your hearing, and argue this in court.
Further, errors with respect to these factors can be fixed in court. This is because the Crown has the right to apply, at any point prior to closing its case, to amend the information. That means amending the face of the violation ticket to correct the error.
If the officer calls the evidence and then realizes that the face of the violation ticket lists a different date, they can apply to amend the ticket to conform to the information that was led in court. You may be able to oppose this
amendment, but it does not invalidate the ticket if the amendment is granted.
The discretion to grant an amendment lies with the Judicial Justice. Amendments are often refused in circumstances where they would prejudice your case. If you knew the date was incorrect, it is very difficult for you to say that your case may be prejudiced unless your entire defence relied on this.
Oftentimes, what the Judicial Justice in traffic court will do is grant an adjournment to allow you more time to prepare your defence, rather than throw the case out or deny the amendment.
The last type of error on the face of a ticket that may invalidate the ticket is an error to the offence charged. This is the most significant type of error.
If the officer puts the wrong description of the offence, the wrong section number or statute, or the wrong prescribed fine amount for the ticket, those errors will typically invalidate the ticket on its face.
This is because the Motor Vehicle Act regulations have some pretty strict requirements for how the information about the charge you are facing has to be completed on the ticket itself. Errors that do not conform to the legislation that authorizes the ticket in the first place. Understanding the complexity and nuance of these provisions is the type of thing a lawyer can help with.
There are other significant errors that may invalidate your ticket. If the officer forgets to check a necessary box or fill out the necessary information, this can also impact the ticket itself. This information can include factors such as whether you are the driver or the owner, your name, or the description of the offence.
This is because the ticket would become what is known as a “nullity.” Be careful if you think your ticket is a nullity. Just because you look at your ticket and conclude that it may be a nullity does not mean that you do not have to do anything about it, however.
Although the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles will review every ticket before it is added to your driving record to determine whether it is a nullity, some tickets inevitably slip through the cracks. So if you see a defect on your ticket, your best course of action is to ensure that you dispute the ticket. That way, if the defect is not noticed, you can still challenge the ticket in court.
It is often difficult for a person who is not a lawyer to determine whether or not a ticket is a nullity and for that reason, it is important to contact a lawyer to discuss issues with respect to a ticket’s validity.
