What is a Reopening of a Traffic ticket?

 So Let's say you get a speeding ticket.  You leave it in your car and forget about it.  Then all the sudden you get a Notice of Fine and Due date in the mail.  What do you do?  

The courts in Ontario have a system for reopening packages.  You can apply for a reopening to get your charge back into the court system but there are some guides you have to follow....  To get a reopening approved you need to apply within 15 days of finding out about you being convicted about your charge.  That is right! 15 days- there is a place on the paperwork that asks about this- it is very important.  

You also need to have a reason why you are applying to have the charge reopened.  It needs to be a reason that isn't your fault.  So just forgetting about it isn't good enough.  Maybe you hired somebody and they didn't file it? Maybe you mailed in the ticket to fight it but the court never received it?  Maybe you missed a trial date because you didn't get the notice of trial in the mail? There are many different reasons that are acceptable- but make sure you are giving yourself the best shot. 

The hardest part about a reopening it goes in front of a Justice of the Peace for approval.  There are JPs that automatically deny every single reopening no matter what. It sounds ridiculous but it is true. It is like the rules don't apply to them and they just deny for no reason.  

All Cities in Ontario have different JPs so there is no way of telling who you are going to get. 

I once filed a reopening for a client who had a house fire and lost everything and the JP denied it. So please make sure your reasoning makes sense.  

You will also need a commissionaire of oaths-  I can help you with that www.ticketforce.ca    or you can check out www.easyform.ca  - they use to have the form listed on their website but they also have links to notaries in Ontario as well.  

Once your reopening is approved you will be waiting for your court date in the mail. It could take some time.  There is also an online tool to check your tickets as well.  

If you pay a ticket you cannot do a reopening- you would have to do an appeal 

Ajax Reopening

Bancroft Reopening

Barrie Reopening

Belleville Reopening

Brampton Reopening

Brantford Reopening

Brockville Reopening

Burlington Reopening

Cambridge Reopening

Chatham Reopening

Chatham-Kent Reopening

Cornwall Reopening

Elliot Lake Reopening

Etobicoke Reopening

Fort Erie Reopening

Fort Frances Reopening

Gananoque Reopening

Guelph Reopening

Hamilton Reopening

Iroquois Falls Reopening

Kapuskasing Reopening

Kawartha Lakes Reopening

Kenora Reopening

Kingston Reopening

Kirkland Lake Reopening

Kitchener Reopening

Laurentian Hills Reopening

London Reopening

Midland Reopening

Mississauga Reopening

Moose Factory Reopening

Moosonee Reopening

Niagara Falls Reopening

Niagara-on-the-Lake Reopening

North Bay Reopening

North York Reopening

Oakville Reopening

Orillia Reopening

Oshawa Reopening

Ottawa Reopening

Parry Sound Reopening

Perth Reopening

Peterborough Reopening

Picton Reopening

Port Colborne Reopening

Saint Catharines Reopening

Saint Thomas Reopening

Sarnia-Clearwater Reopening

Sault Sainte Marie Reopening

Scarborough Reopening

Simcoe Reopening

Stratford Reopening

Sudbury Reopening

Temiskaming Shores Reopening

Thorold Reopening

Thunder Bay Reopening

Timmins Reopening

Toronto Reopening

Trenton Reopening

Waterloo Reopening

Welland Reopening

West Nipissing Reopening

Windsor Reopening

Woodstock Reopening

York Reopening