can i just write my explanation to them or does it automatically go to the court if it fails, because i see that if court finds me guilty the fine goes up
thanks
This is a civil process, so 'guilty' or 'innocent' doesn't apply nor is there a court. What there is, is the Traffic Enforcement Centre that acts as a county (civil law) court but it has no judges or courtrooms. All this centre does is register a debt if the council have had no response to any of the statutory enforcement documents. It allows them to instruct bailiffs to recover the debt.
As regards the submission of representations, if these are rejected by Bristol, you then have the right in law to take them to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which is not a court, but it's decisions have the force of law. At this tribunal, an adjudicator decides which party is correct "on the balance of probabilities" (the civil law test). If you win, the PCN is cancelled and you pay nothing. If you lose, you have to pay the PCN penalty.
Reps that are rejected by the council are not automatically transferred to the tribunal, you have to either pay the PCN or take them to the tribunal.
