Ali Adnan v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors
[2024] UKFTT 740 (GRC)
Michael Kemp v The Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors
18 June 2024
[2024] UKFTT 523 (GRC)
First-tier Tribunal
A driving instructor was kicked off the register for not giving police the driver's details after getting a speeding ticket. He said he was stressed and didn't see the letters about it. The court said he was telling the truth, and it was unfair to take away his license to teach driving because he just had one speeding ticket, so he got to keep his job.
Key Facts
- •Michael Kemp, an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI), had his name removed from the Register by the Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors.
- •The removal was due to a conviction for failing to provide driver details (s172 Road Traffic Act), resulting in penalty points.
- •Kemp appealed, citing stressful family circumstances leading to missed post and a lack of awareness of the conviction.
- •Kemp also had a speeding conviction he admitted to.
- •The Magistrates agreed to reopen the s172 case due to Kemp's claim of not being the driver.
- •The Tribunal heard the appeal and considered evidence including Kemp's explanation and the Registrar's response.
Legal Principles
ADIs must be and remain "fit and proper persons" to be on the Register (s. 125(3) and s. 127(3)(e) Road Traffic Act 1988).
Road Traffic Act 1988
The Registrar's decision is subject to an appeal by way of re-hearing; the Tribunal takes a fresh decision, giving appropriate weight to the Registrar's reasons.
R (Hope and Glory Public House Limited) v City of Westminster Magistrates' Court [2011] EWCA Civ 31 and Hesham Ali (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] UKSC 60
"Fit and proper person" means fit and proper to be on the register, maintaining public confidence; stringent disclosure requirements apply.
Harris v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors [2010] EWCA Civ 808
Outcomes
The appeal is allowed.
The Tribunal found Kemp's explanation credible, considering the stressful circumstances and his frank admission of the speeding offence. They believed the removal from the register was disproportionate to the single speeding offence after considering the mitigating circumstances.
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