Endorsement in United Kingdom

Definition of Endorsement

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Endorsement :

1. The procedure in which the particulars of a driving offence are noted on a person’s driving licence. When the court orders endorsement for an offence carrying obligatory or discretionary *disqualification but the driver is not disqualified, the endorsement also contains particulars of the number of penalty points imposed for the purposes of *totting up. When the court orders disqualification, only the particulars of the offence are noted. The courts can order endorsement upon a conviction for most traffic offences (the main exceptions being parking offences) and in many cases they must order an endorsement, unless there are special reasons (e.g. a sudden emergency) why they should not. A person whose licence is to be endorsed must produce it for the court; if he does not do so, his licence may be suspended. A driver whose licence has been endorsed may apply to have a new “clean” licence after a certain number of years has elapsed (usually 4 years, but 11 in the case of offences involving *drunken driving). Under the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, with effect from 1 June 1997, a driver who is convicted of an endorsable offence and who has accumulated 6 or more penalty points within two years of passing a driving test has his licence revoked and must retake a driving test.

2. The signature of the holder on a bill of exchange, which is an essential step in negotiating or transferring a bill payable to order. The endorsement must be completed by delivering the bill to the transferee. An endorsement in blank is the bare signature of the holder and makes the bill payable to bearer. A special endorsement specifies the person to whom (or to whose order) the bill is payable (e.g. “Pay X or order”). An endorser, by endorsing a bill, takes on certain obligations to the holder or a subsequent endorser.

3. The noting on a document of details of a later transaction affecting the subject matter of that document. For example, a beneficiary in whose favour a personal representative executes an *assent of property may require details of the assent to be written (endorsed) on the document containing the *probate or *letters of administratio Equally, a purchaser of a plot forming part of a larger plot of land may require a note or memorandum of the conveyance to him to be endorsed on the title deeds relating to the whole plot.