When a person is convicted of certain offences, the Court is under an obligation to endorse the licence of that person, or sometimes even disqualify that person from driving. The court must order endorsement/disqualification unless it decides, after hearing sworn evidence, that there are special reasons for not doing so.

In order to avoid endorsement or compulsory disqualification, the defendant must give the court at least one specific reason why they should not be penalised by endorsement (or disqualification in cases where this is mandatory) and that reason must meet all of the following criteria:

(a)   It must be a mitigating or extenuating circumstance;

(b)   It must not amount to a legal defence or charge;

(c)   It must be directly connected with the circumstances in which the offence was committed, and not relate solely to the circumstances of the offender;

(d)   It should be a factor which the court ought to properly take into consideration, when deciding the sentence.

If successful, the court will not impose the mandatory endorsement or disqualification.