RTA vs Guy Davies ~ update

RTA vs Guy Davies - Judgement transcript now available


For those of you who were looking for the details of the Judgement of the appeal hearing in the case of RTA vs Guy Davies (11th January 2012), the transcript  is now available in the CEBTA Members Area here - just follow the link.

You'll also find an update with regards to Guy's appeal of this decision.

"Consumer Law" ~ statements from RTA

A number of defendants and clients have received a notification from RTA entitled "Consumer Law" which provides some brief information about the above case.

In this document, RTA make the following statement
"...any future case where the defence is "I am a consumer" will be dismissed and judgement will be awarded to RTA"

This statement is misleading as a number of you have asserted from this that this 'dismissal' is automatically done by the court and that you will automatically get a Judgement in default.

This is not the case...

In almost all of your cases (for those of you who are in the middle of court proceedings) you have not just used the "I am a consumer" argument as you have many other issues - so this will not apply to you.

However, the court can make any decision it sees fit without a hearing.  Not just about this decision but about anything at all, as defined in the Civil Procedure Rules, etc.  But, in order for any defence to be dismissed it would be usual for the claimant to make an application to the court to do this.  The court would then make a decision but it's important to remember that the overriding objective of the court is to be fair to both parties.  So it's highly unlikely that your defence would be automatically dismissed or that you will  automatically get a judgement in default.

But if you are worried about this then contact the CEBTA people who will help you make an application to the court to amend your defence - it's as simple as that!


You might like to email this "Consumer Law" document to Jayne Stubbs at Stockport Trading Standards along with your views on whether or not you thought it was misleading, and a summary of your story.

When is a Landmark Case not a Landmark Case?

It is interesting to note that RTA refer to this as a 'landmark case'.  This author is wondering why RTA failed to recognise the case of RTA vs Gill Draper (which was also a decision made in a Higher Court) as a landmark case....

After receiving the decision in the Appeals Court of Judge De Mille in the case of RTA vs Draper where Judge De Mille agreed that the client was a consumer under these circumstances, RTA still argued that this wasn't the case.

In any case the decision of Judge Rundell in RTA vs Guy Davies is currently being appealed and you should inform your judge of this fact in your hearings.

Guy will keep us informed of progress.