Step 1: Fight The Ticket

Summary:

• Review your ticket options in detail.
• Reasons why you should fight the ticket.
• Busting myths like: "I'm guilty" or "I don't want to go to court".

TICKET OPTIONS

On the back of your ticket are three options. The first two options allow you to plead guilty and pay the fine, the third option is to request a trial.^[1]

Option 1: Plea of Guilty. This option allows you to voluntarily pay the ticket out of court. There are many ways to pay your ticket: online, by telephone, by mail, use your credit card, etc. In other words, many ways for you to hand over your money. If you are one of the lucky few who make too much money, then this option is for you.

Option 2: Plea of Guilty - Submission as to Penalty (formerly known as "Plead Guilty With An Explanation"). This option allows you to take time off work, go to court and say a few words about how much you don't like handing over your money. After your court appearance, the clerk will hand you a slip demanding you pay the exact same amount as Option 1 above. The difference with Option 2 is that you took time off work and went to court before being forced to choose Option 1.

Pleading guilty is pleading guilty. It doesn't matter whether you have an explanation or not. It doesn't matter how good your explanation is. You still have to pay the full amount of the fine. Most fines are set by statue. That means the justice can't reduce it. There are some exceptions but you won't be one of them. What's worse, you still end up with a conviction which will effect your insurance and driving record.

Option 3: Trial Option. This is the option you want. Notice how Option 2 and Option 3 make you do the same thing: appear in person at a court office to request a trial. If you are going to the court office anyway, then you might as well request the trial without pleading guilty. One bizarre thing people do is line up to pay their ticket. It's the same line to request a trial. If you've already made the effort to come to the court office and waited patiently in line, why would you pay the fine when you can just as easily request a trial instead?

What They Don't Tell You

Beside the options on the back of your ticket, you have more options that they don't tell you about.

Option 4: Dispute the Charge in Writing. This option has been in Ontario law for years but the province has never declared which regions can use it. Since this is a convenient way to fight a ticket and is commonly used in other provinces, Ontario won’t allow it! Basically this option allows you to dispute your ticket in writing if you don't live in the jurisdiction where your trial will be held. Among other things, it allows you to tell your side of the story without being subject to cross-examination. The danger is that if you don't write a good enough defence, you will be convicted. If you do write a good excuse, the justice can hold a hearing in your absence. Since you don't get to respond to issues raised in court by the prosecutor or the police officer, you could end up being convicted.

Option 5: Do Nothing. As bizarre as this sounds, doing nothing can actually work to your advantage in certain situations. Many errors on a ticket like incorrect fine, misspelled name or wrong time are not fatal errors. That means the errors can be corrected at your trial. But the law doesn't allow any errors to be corrected if you ignore your ticket. In your absence, the justice must look at the ticket (including the errors) "as is". He must decide if it is still valid. For a detailed explanation of when to use this option, see How to Force a Fatal Error.

Option 6: Request a Trial Then Don't Go To It. If you request a trial and then don't show up in court, the same rules apply as in Option 5 above. Even minor errors cannot be corrected. That means they could become fatal errors. But if you show up, they can correct the errors. The advantage of this option is that it gives you more time than the 15 day limit. You can request a trial which will take months to schedule. That gives you more time to research and decide what to do. It also allows you to request disclosure (covered in Step 4). You can see the evidence they have against you before the trial. Then you can decide whether to fight the charge or force a fatal error.

Don't become overwhelmed with the amount of information that's on this site. Don't let the number of options confuse you. What you must do is crystal clear…

1. For parking tickets some jurisdictions have a variation of these options or renumber them. For example, the City of Whitby offers voluntary payment as option 1 and online payment as option 3. Option 2 is the trial option. The City of Brampton and the County of Wellington have only two options, pay or request a trial. The City of Kingston changes the second option to review the infraction at a "ticket inquiry" centre. Regardless of what option number it is, always choose the trial option.