Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 section 53

Burden of proof

Section 53 establishes that in prosecutions for certain vehicle excise offences, the defendant must prove key facts about the vehicle rather than the prosecution having to disprove them.

• Applies to prosecutions under sections 29, 31A, 34, 37 and 45 of the Act, covering offences such as using or keeping an unlicensed vehicle, trade licence breaches, underpayment of duty, and false declarations.
• The accused bears the burden of proving factual matters including the number of vehicles used, the character, weight, or cylinder capacity of a vehicle, and its seating capacity.
• The accused must also prove the purpose for which a vehicle has been used, if that is in question.
• This reversal of the normal burden of proof reflects the fact that the vehicle keeper or user is best placed to know and demonstrate these details about their own vehicle.