Free Magistrates' Statutory Declaration Template — MCA s.14

STATUTORY DECLARATION

Section 14 Of The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980  ·  City Of London Magistrates' Court  ·  CMC-26-49217-LB

COURT AND CASE DETAILS

I, Lachlan Calum Brodie, born 19 April 1987, of Flat 4, 17 Sandwood Crescent, Edinburgh EH4 6DA, do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows, in support of an application under section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 that the summons (or other originating document) and all subsequent proceedings in the case identified above be declared void.

Full name: Lachlan Calum Brodie
Date of birth: 19 April 1987
Address: Flat 4, 17 Sandwood Crescent, Edinburgh EH4 6DA
Email: lachlan.brodie@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone: 07921 488704

These proceedings concern a Single Justice Procedure Notice issued in respect of an alleged offence summarised as follows:

Failing to provide information identifying the driver alleged to have driven a vehicle (Audi A4, registration AC68 BRD) in a bus lane on Threadneedle Street, London EC2 — contrary to section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. I was convicted in my absence on 12 February 2026, fined £660, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £66 victim surcharge, and had 6 penalty points endorsed on my licence.

The alleged offence is said to have been committed on 14 August 2025. The court tried the information and convicted me in my absence on 12 February 2026.

I declare that I did not know of a Single Justice Procedure Notice, and did not know of the proceedings against me in City of London Magistrates' Court, until 23 May 2026. That date is after the magistrates' court began to try the information. I learned of the proceedings through a letter from the DVLA notifying me of penalty points or driving disqualification:

On 23 May 2026 I received a DVLA letter at my Edinburgh address notifying me that 6 penalty points had been added to my licence and that I now had a total of 12 points, making me liable to a totting-up disqualification. The letter referred to the City of London Magistrates' Court conviction of 12 February 2026 (case reference CMC-26-49217-LB). I had no prior knowledge of any of those proceedings: I lived in Edinburgh throughout the period and had never received the SJP notice, any reminder letter, or any communication about the case.

This declaration is made on 10 June 2026 and will be served on the designated officer for City of London Magistrates' Court on or before 13 June 2026, which is within the 21-day period required by section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 running from the knowledge date stated above.

Section 14(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 requires actual, not constructive, ignorance: I must show I did not in fact know of the summons or proceedings until the knowledge date specified above. The leading authority is R v Cardiff Magistrates' Court ex parte Kuyumdjian, which confirms the subjective standard. The following matters together establish the genuine ignorance ground.

(A) Service address position. The address at which the City of London Magistrates' Court and the prosecutor (Transport for London on behalf of the City of London Corporation) purported to serve the originating document was 142 Cavendish Heights, London E14 3RH. I have never lived at that address. I moved out of London entirely on 14 March 2025 (more than four months before the alleged offence date) and have lived continuously at Flat 4, 17 Sandwood Crescent, Edinburgh EH4 6DA since that date. The DVLA records show my current address from 16 March 2025 onwards.

(B) Why I did not know. I had no knowledge of the SJP proceedings because the notice was never sent to my actual address. The DVLA address held since 16 March 2025 has been my Edinburgh address; any prosecutor relying on a previous address held by Transport for London or by a related authority could not, on the dates that mattered, have caused service to reach me. I never received the SJP notice, any reminder, any court letter, any bailiff visit, or any other communication referring to this case before 23 May 2026.

(C) Where I was during the relevant period. I was resident at Flat 4, 17 Sandwood Crescent, Edinburgh EH4 6DA from 14 March 2025 onwards. My tenancy agreement (Royal Bank of Scotland letting agent: Brodies LLP, dated 9 March 2025), my Edinburgh council tax bills from April 2025 onwards, and my Scottish employer's payroll records (KPMG Edinburgh, employed since 7 April 2025) all confirm my presence in Edinburgh throughout the period in which the SJP notice is said to have been served.

(D) Third-party evidence. I can produce: (i) the tenancy agreement of 9 March 2025; (ii) council tax bills from April 2025 to date; (iii) my KPMG Edinburgh employment contract and salary slips from April 2025 to May 2026; (iv) a letter from my landlord confirming continuous occupation; (v) NHS Scotland GP registration from May 2025. The court does not enquire into the truth of a statutory declaration on its face, but this material is available to support the application.

The 21-day window in section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 runs from the date of actual knowledge of the summons or proceedings, not from the date of the conviction in absence. Where service within 21 days is late, section 14(3) allows the court (a single justice suffices) to accept the declaration where it was not reasonable to expect service within the period — R (Holloway) v Harrow Crown Court [2019] EWHC 1731 (Admin).

(A) My 21-day position. My knowledge date is 23 May 2026, when I received the DVLA letter at my Edinburgh address. This declaration is made on 10 June 2026 (the 18th day after knowledge) and will be served on the designated officer for the City of London Magistrates' Court the same day. Service is therefore well within the 21-day window prescribed by section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, which expires on 13 June 2026.

(B) If service is late — reason. Service is in time on the facts above; no extension is required. If the court were to take the view that my knowledge date is in fact an earlier date (which I do not concede), the slight delay would be explained by the time I spent obtaining the case papers from the City of London Magistrates' Court, locating an Edinburgh solicitor who acts as a commissioner for oaths, and securing an appointment to swear this declaration.

(C) Holloway extension argument. Under R (Holloway) v Harrow Crown Court [2019] EWHC 1731 (Admin), the question under section 14(3) is whether it was reasonable to expect me to serve within 21 days of actual knowledge given my circumstances. On the facts here — actual knowledge on 23 May 2026, the need to obtain papers from a London court while living in Edinburgh, and to locate and engage a solicitor — service on 10 June 2026 is plainly in time, and would in any event be a paradigm case for extension under s.14(3) if needed.

The declaration is sworn before a person authorised by law to administer a statutory declaration: a solicitor, commissioner for oaths, magistrate or District Judge (Magistrates' Courts), under the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. The person hearing the declaration certifies the fact by signature; they do not enquire into the truth (Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889 s.5; Legal Services Act 2007 s.183(4)) but they must state the place and date where the declaration is made.

(A) How the oath was administered. The declaration was made in person at the offices of MacAulay and Drysdale LLP, 27 Frederick Street, Edinburgh EH2 2ND, on 10 June 2026 before Eilidh Catriona MacAulay, Solicitor and Commissioner for Oaths. I produced my UK driving licence (number BRODI8704041LB7HJ) and a council tax bill in my name dated 7 May 2026. I read the declaration in full, confirmed the contents were true to the best of my knowledge and belief, and signed it in Ms MacAulay's presence; she then certified the declaration by signature, stating the place and date as required by section 5 of the Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889 and section 183(4) of the Legal Services Act 2007.

(B) Documents produced before the declaration was sworn. Before the declaration was sworn I produced: (i) the DVLA letter of 23 May 2026 notifying me of the points endorsement and prospective totting-up; (ii) my UK driving licence for photographic identification; (iii) a council tax bill in my name dated 7 May 2026 confirming my current address; (iv) the tenancy agreement of 9 March 2025; (v) a payslip from KPMG Edinburgh dated 30 April 2026. Each was sighted by the Commissioner for Oaths before she certified the declaration.

(C) Compliance with statutory form. The declaration follows the form prescribed by the Ministry of Justice (template TSM001-ENG, "Statutory Declaration in connection with Section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980") and the Criminal Procedure Rules at rule 24.17 (formerly rule 37.11). It identifies the declarant, the proceedings, the knowledge date and the genuine ignorance position — the four matters required by section 14(1) — and complies with the requirements of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 as to the words "solemnly and sincerely declare".

On valid service of this declaration, section 14 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 renders the summons (or other originating document) and all subsequent proceedings void. That includes the conviction in absence, any fine, costs order or compensation order, any penalty point endorsement or disqualification, and any committal warrant or enforcement step taken on the back of the conviction. The information may then be re-laid and the case re-listed for a fresh trial at which I will appear and plead.

(A) Consequences that fall away. I ask the court to give effect to the voiding by: (i) setting aside the conviction and sentence of 12 February 2026; (ii) cancelling the £660 fine, £85 costs and £66 victim surcharge; (iii) directing the DVLA to remove the 6 penalty points endorsed against my licence on the back of the conviction; (iv) discharging any enforcement order or bailiff instruction; (v) directing the prosecutor not to take any further enforcement step pending re-listing. The disqualification threat from totting-up falls away once the points are removed.

(B) Re-listing request. I ask the court to re-list the information for trial as soon as practicable, with reasonable notice to my Edinburgh address, and to direct the prosecutor (Transport for London / City of London Corporation) to send the prosecution file disclosure to me at least 28 days in advance. Given that I live in Edinburgh, I ask the court to consider the case in person at a single hearing on a date convenient to my work commitments, or in the alternative to allow appearance by video link under the Criminal Procedure Rules.

(C) My intended plea on re-listing. I will plead not guilty when the case is re-listed and seek to defend the substantive charge.

I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835.

Declared at: MacAulay and Drysdale LLP, 27 Frederick Street, Edinburgh EH2 2ND
Date: 10 June 2026
Before me: Eilidh Catriona MacAulay, Solicitor and Commissioner for Oaths, MacAulay and Drysdale LLP