Duty Solicitor

[Egg Centric]

Apparently magistrates courts have duty solicitors. This makes me wonder - when a TOC takes you to court (let's assume that attempts to avoid that have failed) I would have thought you should ask to see the duty solicitor for free legal advice. Particularly if you have a defence in law but Merseyrail (or whoever, I just get the impression they're particularly incompetent) is ignoring it. But I've never seen that suggested here.

Is that because railway offences/private prosecutions/??? aren't eligible for the duty solicitor? My interpretation from Google is that broadly speaking RORA ones would be as they're technically imprisonable while bylaws wouldn't be, but I can't find the actual rules just summaries of them.

Or would the duty solicitor just not be helpful anyway?

 

[AlterEgo]

Haven't most of the people attending court for railway matters already made a plea, and therefore not eligible for such advice under the scheme?

 

[Cortado]

You might be able to use a duty solicitor, but it depends how busy they are on the day and I've little doubt they'd prioritise "juicier" cases if at all possible.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Duty solicitors are only officially available for offences with a potential for imprisonment or loss of licence. They may assist others in court on the day, though that's down to capacity and need; fare evasion will be low on the list.

 

[RPI]

Duty solicitors are only officially available for offences with a potential for imprisonment or loss of licence. They may assist others in court on the day, though that's down to capacity and need; fare evasion will be low on the list.

Fare evasion for a second time is technically imprisonable though.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Fare evasion for a second time is technically imprisonable though.

And the potential is still very low.

 

[Watershed]

Fare evasion for a second time is technically imprisonable though.

(if both offences are under RoRA)

 

[RPI]

(if both offences are under RoRA)

Fair point

And the potential is still very low.

Agreed, but not impossible.

 

[island]

Regardless of the probability, which I agree is extremely low, the offence under Section 5 (3) of the RRA 1889 is "an imprisonable offence" and anyone charged with it, including for the first time, is entitled to the assistance of the duty solicitor.

The same is not true for byelaw offences.