Quote:
Court refuses trial by combat
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 16/12/2002)
A court has rejected a 60-year-old man's attempt to invoke the ancient right to trial by combat, rather than pay a £25 fine for a minor motoring offence.
Leon Humphreys remained adamant yesterday that his right to fight a champion nominated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was still valid under European human rights legislation. He said it would have been a "reasonable" way to settle the matter.
Magistrates sitting at Bury St Edmunds on Friday had disagreed and instead of accepting his offer to take on a clerk from Swansea with "samurai swords, Ghurka knives or heavy hammers", fined him £200 with £100 costs.
Humphreys, an unemployed mechanic, was taken to court after refusing to pay the original £25 fixed penalty for failing to notify the DVLA that his Suzuki motorcycle was off the road.
After entering a not guilty plea, he threw down his unconventional challenge. Humphreys, from Bury St Edmunds, said: "I was willing to fight a champion put up by the DVLA, but it would have been a fight to the death."
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I dont know what is worse? The fact that in Europe there is legislation that allows for "trial by combat" filed under "Human rights",or that they fined this guy more for trying to use it, OR that a 60 yr old thinks a combat to the death is a viable option to resolve a $25 fine.
Trial by combat is a great idea, but it shouldt be filed under a human rights heading. Maybe file under the same group of laws that allows one to represnent themself in court even though they arent a lawyer. The article says that the man was entitled to fight the "champion nominated by the DVLA". Who is to say that the DVLA cant nominate a certified bad ass like Jet Li or Lennox Lewis to be its champion? No One said it had to be easy.
I also dont think that they should have fined him more for trying to use the law in this situation. They could have just told him "NO", like the court acctualy did and just let him pay his fine.The extra fines seem like a penalty for knowing the law and being creative in trying to use it. I just hope at 60 I feel confident enough in my own abilities to even consider at fight to the death.