Submissions and Evidence

Submissions are the arguments that each party makes to persuade the Adjudicator to decide the appeal in their favour.
The council will argue that the contravention occurred as alleged, and that the penalty was issued and served correctly and should therefore be paid.
The appellant will argue that the penalty should not be paid, because one or more of the statutory grounds for appeal applies or for other compelling reasons.
The parties are encouraged to put their arguments in writing: the appellant with the Notice of Appeal and the council with the evidence bundle. The parties' arguments may already be clear from correspondence between them before the appeal was made. It is recognised that further argument may follow the initial exchange of paperwork.
Making oral submissions means explaining the arguments to the Adjudicator at a personal or telephone hearing.

The Adjudicator is not bound by the strict rules of evidence that apply in court and may consider any evidence.
Evidence is anything that a party relies on to help prove their case. Evidence may consist of documents (including photographs) or it may be oral. Giving oral evidence means speaking to the Adjudicator at a personal or telephone hearing, telling them what happened and answering any questions.
Neither form of evidence is necessarily "better" than the other.
However, oral evidence can be very powerful, especially if the case turns on things that were not seen:
For example: If the official who issued the penalty saw nothing but the appellant says loading activity was continuing indoors.

or if it is one person's word against another's:

For example, if one person says the PCN was handed to the driver but the other says they refused to take it and it fell to the ground.
Evidence from the person who actually took part in the events in question is always stronger than second-hand evidence from someone else. For example, if X is the appellant but Y was driving at the time, it might be preferable for Y to attend the hearing in person, either with or without X, especially in cases similar to the examples given.
It is important to remember that it is up to the parties to get the evidence they need. Adjudication by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal is not an extension of the appellant's correspondence with the council. The Tribunal will not make its own investigations and, in particular, will not:
contact witnesses; or
take photographs or obtain CCTV footage.

The council's evidence in parking and moving-traffic (bus lane) appeals might include:

The appellant's evidence might include:

Appellants are advised to send only copies of evidence. The Tribunal cannot undertake to return such items during or after an appeal.