The High Court has ruled that a District Court hearing an appeal over a refused driving-test certificate cannot decide whether the tester’s assessment of a candidate’s driving was right. Its role is limited to deciding whether the test was improperly conducted.
Mr Justice Hedigan gave the ruling on a case stated by District Judge Mary Collins. The reference followed an appeal by Michael Ardiff, who had been refused a certificate of competency after a motorbike test. Ardiff disputed the tester’s findings, saying he had made the required safety glances and suggesting the tester may have lost sight of him during the test. The tester, Mr McCaffrey, said he had not lost sight of Ardiff and that Ardiff failed to make the required glances.
The Road Safety Authority argued that an appeal under section 33(6)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 concerned wrongful conduct by the tester, rather than a review of factual findings made during the test. Judge Collins referred eight questions to the High Court about the District Court’s powers.
The High Court said the statutory appeal is not a factual appeal on whether the candidate should have passed. The District Court may consider how the test was conducted, but cannot substitute its assessment of the candidate’s driving for the tester’s. A candidate’s disagreement with the result, or evidence that merely contradicts the tester’s findings, is not enough to overturn the decision on competence.
The court also addressed the test report sheet. The District Court may examine it to check that reasons for failure were given and to identify a clear error on the face of the document that may have misled the applicant. It must not use the report to reassess the tester’s findings. The judgment’s answer to the question about reviewing the sheet was “No, save as provided” in that limited way.
If the District Court finds that a test was improperly conducted, it may direct a further test. The High Court said that does not erase the original test or overturn the finding that the applicant was not entitled to a certificate. It entitles the applicant to a retest, and the original result remains on the RSA’s record.
The judgment answered the eight referred questions on the scope of the statutory appeal. It did not determine whether Ardiff should have passed the motorbike test.