Exceptional Hardship Submission Dumfries JP Court

Another fairly classic case of exceptional hardship which was considered by Dumfries Justice of the Peace Court on 13 June 2018. Whilst each case turns on its own facts and circumstances, significant case law has developed in this area which can offer guidance on the types of arguments which the court may accept as constituting exceptional hardship. One such ground relates to situations where an accused has such a degree of specialism that he becomes irreplaceable and the loss of a driving licence can lead to exceptional hardship being suffered by an employer.

Our client held various advanced licences entitling him to drive HGVs, including an ADR certificate which conferred the ability to transfer dangerous or hazardous goods in bulk by road. These qualifications may not be particularly unusual on the mainland however on the Isle of Barra, with a population of around 1000 inhabitants, it placed our client in a rather unique position of being only one of two drivers with the appropriate training and authorisation to transport essential materials to the Isle of Barra.

Having heard the evidence in the case, the court was satisfied that exceptional hardship would indeed be suffered by the community as a whole in the event of a six month period of disqualification.  Various other factors came into play here however the arguments all stemmed from the remoteness of Barra and were really contextual submissions which may not have found such favour with the court had our client been situated on the mainland.