Published on 12, July, 2020
This is my first post please be kind my punctuation and spelling is not great
My husband and I have just received penalty notices for my 12 year old ASD son as we took him on holiday during term time my son can not deal with crowded places and lots of over excited children we obviously want our son to experience every opportunity we can give him but find if we take him away during school holidays it is too stressful and overwhelming for him so we have no choice but to take him during school term time when it is quieter and he can enjoy his break away. My son is in mainstream school and the school are well aware of why we take him away during term time. Has anyone else had this issue and is there anything we can do about the penalty notice as it states we have no statutory right to appeal but feel there is exceptional circumstances for the leave
IF you have not replied to the penalty notice, then this bit of rare and useful law applies.
They HAVE to get a reply out of you before taking enforcement action. It's called "joinder" in law,and it's a basic neccesity.
Think about that for a moment...
Do not apply this knowledge to speed camera notices, T.V. licence demands etc. or other penalty notices however, unless are really alienated from our society as it really needs your money from all those extra little "digs". This is way different to those people on you tube who argue with bailiffs, in those cases "joinder" has been established, and the people are now engaged in a "controversy" usually because they answered a letter.
BUT if you don't agree with a penalty notice or similar, on political or other grounds, "ignorance" is a very powerful tool. In the case of a speeding camera notice, when ignored you get a second more threatening notice. If you do not break at that point then you get a third notice, and some of those can be terrifying, but if you wait for the fourth one it doe not arrive. And they don't seem to keep any record. The system has been extensively tested over a greater than twenty year period, and unbelievably works as I describe.
It's part of the criminal "just us" system where "those in the know" can drive as fast as they bloody well like in tehri huge powerful cars with almost no chance of incurring the costs and penalties that afflict the rest of the population. Next time one blows past you on the motorway, now you know how they get away with it.
"Ignorance" is no excuse, it's a functional legal weapon!
Of course, it is a weapon that is nullified by personal service, but since signed for post doesn't actually require your personal signature any more, even that just got a whole mot more expensive and difficult to implement for systems that rely on your co-operation.
If the system is unfair, then always remember that they need you to play the game, or in this case respond to the letter, otherwise the game can't get started.
NOW. It could be argued that it is extremely irresponsible of me to publish such a workaround in a public forum. People could use this knowledge to avoid legitimate penalties. (and probably will). BUT in your case you could use it to ward off an unfair penalty, and have a legitimate need to know what is behind that penalty notice...
There is a principle that our laws operate with "the consent of the governed" which as some of the "Freemen" know is not always followed, but it underpins all but the oldest of our legal systems. You give that consent, automatically by responding. All (or most of the criminal classes learn this, and this, and other legal tricks is why it's so hard for the poor police force (when they do make an effort) to get the smarter or well connected criminals convicted.
BUT most GOOD people (like yourselves appear to be) are not criminals and would not converse with the criminal class when they get an opportunity, and equally are not part of the ruling classes either, so they dutifully answer the letters, and pay the subsequent fines, fees, and tariffs, that keep this deeply flawed, over complicated and under effective legal and money harvesting system working where YOU are the victims!!
I am not suggesting anyone break the law, but I am telling people the generally hidden bit of knowledge that you have a lot of choice in when and how you engage with it, or even in many, many case IF you choose to engage with it. This sort of knowledge is generally hidden because it is widely believed by the people who know that the average individual has no moral compass, and will use it to avoid any and all just penalties.
NOW a small subset of 1 in 50 of the population just got exposed to it, and the "conditioning" will ensure that most people reject it, so really it's only you guys and a handful of other readers who are likely to use it at all, so I feel quite justified in hitting "reply".
Please remember:
Rule 11: Posts which are deemed by the moderation team to be promoting illegal activity or putting a person at risk will be deleted without warning.
Liz Mod
I've tried very hard to be clear that I am providing non-mainstream information, and not recommending a course of action, other than the one we should all be taking, that of opposing oppression and injustice whenever we find it using whatever tools are at hand,
My actions pararalell those of my leadership, which is currently giving the "tools to fight oppression" to the Ukrainian leadership.
I felt compelled to offer these people the tools to make it at least a more difficult process to extract penalties from them for the act of trying to give their child a decent holiday in line with their needs. There are so many other posts I read of parents complaining about the extra effort and accomodations required to give an Autistic kid a decent start in life, that I made what I consider to be a "brave and edgy" post.
The (inevitable) argument has been presented very eloquently, and I've no intention to post further in this topic, or influence anyone's decision. I have read the rules at least once, and I do remember that I did consider whether I was promoting illegal activity or putting people at risk. It could doubtless be written better, I do know that presentation isn't my forte.