Author Archives: Paul

When you have been caught drug driving, is it possible to keep your licence? Victoria has what is known as mandatory sentencing when it comes to drug driving offences. Mandatory sentencing is where the Magistrate or Judge has no discretion in sentencing you and instead the Court is compelled to strictly follow Parliament’s pre determined sentence for that offence. In Victoria, Parliament has pre determined minimum mandatory disqualification periods for all drug driving offences. This means that in Court a Magistrate or Judge must impose at least that mandatory minimum disqualification period. Each type of drug driving offence and first and subsequent offences has its own mandatory minimum disqualificvation period. The Magistrate is able, however, to disqualify you longer than the minimum mandatory disqualification period depending on the circumstances of each case. Exceptional circumstances do not override the mandatory minimum disqualification. For all drug driving offences there are no exceptional licences or work licences in Victoria. Victoria does not have adjourned bonds without licence disqualification like in some other States.
These mandatory laws for drug driving are complicated and that is why you need a lawyer to make sure you receive the lowest penalty possible at Court. The Magistrate can disqualify you longer than the minimum mandatory disqualification period. I will present your circumstances to the Court to help you achieve the minimum licence disqualification possible and get you back on the road as soon as possible. Your licence is valuable to you and you need to have the best representation to get you back on the road as soon as possible.

Please call me on 0412 407577 to arrange a conference via ZOOM, WEBEX , TEAMS or FACETIME.

I am asked many times each day by persons caught drink driving if it is possible to keep their licence. Victoria has what is known as mandatory sentencing when it comes to drink driving offences. Mandatory sentencing is where the Magistrate or Judge has no discretion in sentencing you and instead the Court is compelled to strictly follow Parliament’s pre determined sentence for that offence. In Victoria, Parliament has pre determined minimum mandatory disqualification periods for each drink driving reading and offence. This means that in Court a Magistrate or Judge must impose at least that mandatory minimum disqualification period. Each type of drink driving offence and each BAC level has its own mandatory minimum disqualificvation period. The Magistrate is able, however, to disqualify you longer than the minimum mandatory disqualification period depending on the circumstances of each case. Exceptional circumstances do not override the mandatory minimum disqualification. There are no exceptional licences or work licences in Victoria. Victoria does not have adjourned bonds without licence disqualification like in some other States.
These mandatory laws are complicated and that is why you need a lawyer to make sure you receive the lowest penalty possible at Court. The Magistrate can disqualify you longer than the minimum mandatory disqualification period. I will present your circumstances to Court to help you achieve the minimum disqualification possible and get you back on the road as soon as possible. Your licence is valuable to you and you need to have the best representation to get you back on the road as soon as possible.

Please call me on 0412 407577 to arrange a conference via ZOOM, WEBEX , TEAMS or FACETIME.

Caught Drug Driving from the 30th April 2018 and you will receive double the previous penalty. The previous penalty for drug driving was 3 months licence disqualification for a first offence and 6 months for a subsequent offence. The penalty will now double to 6 months licence disqualification for a first offence and 12 months for a subsequent offence. You will also receive a fine. All persons caught drug driving will now have to complete a Drug Driving behavour change Program before they can be re-licenced to drive in Victoria. This is an expensive 12 hour program over many days and can involve referral to medical professionals. In the last 5 years 41% of drivers killed while driving had illicit drugs in their system.

You will also receive a conviction involving drugs which could be catastrophic for either your career, permanent residency or travel plans. I specialise in avoiding a criminal conviction against your name. The only way to avoid a conviction is to take the matter to court and present a good case as to why a conviction should not be recorded against you.

Police in Victoria today can only detect cannabis, methamphetamine and MDMA in drivers, and there is no threshold – such as 0.05 for alcohol – to determine a driver’s level of impairment.

A recent government inquiry has recommended over 50 changes including widening the number of drugs that can be tested and also new testing devices that can determine the level of a drug in your body. As medicinal cannabis which contains no THC becomes increasingly accessible in Victoria, the inquiry found that drug driving laws would also need to be updated to allow those using medicinal cannabis to drive a motor vehicle.

The inquiry also found that “Stakeholders also advised the Committee that moving away from a drug detection threshold to an impairment threshold would facilitate the inclusion of other drugs in the testing regime, including pharmaceutical drugs, some of which are proven to adversely affect driving performance.”

If you wish to avoid a conviction for drug driving please call me on 0412 407577 to arrange an appointment.