What can I do against a penalty notice?

Questioner

Around 00:36 I was cycling home after visiting a friend. I had forgotten to turn on my lights and was stopped by a police car. I immediately realised the reason and turned my lights back on. I gave the officer my ID and shortly afterwards I was told that I would get a fine. I indicated that I thought this was excessive as I had turned my lights back on. The police officers ignored this and walked back to their car. As the car was ten metres away and I still wanted to talk about the situation, I shouted at them. An officer then said that I would now get another fine. She then got into the car without explaining to me what kind of fine it was and why I had received this fine. In the end I got a fine for 'causing noise or disturbance to neighbours that could disturb the night'. I do not agree with this and am hesitating to appeal. Now I wonder whether this is useful and what actually happens if this appeal is rejected. I hope to get an answer to this.

Lawyer

You can file an objection to a penalty notice within two weeks if you disagree with it. Without procedural documents, you have no idea what the officers have written in the report. If you have filed an objection, it is possible to request access to the procedural documents. This allows you to see, for example, what the reporting officers have stated about the case. Based on the documents, you can supplement the grounds for the objection, but it is also possible to withdraw an objection filed later. It is not possible to file an objection outside the two-week period. So you can now file an objection and, based on the documents, later decide to withdraw the objection. The case will not then go to court. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require legal assistance.