Appeal Court judges have been tasked with interpreting the demerit point penalties of the Electronic Vehicle Registration system after a landmark ruling fined a man for repeatedly breaking traffic laws, but failed to revoke his licence.

The Department of Public Prosecutions filed the appeal after Justice Ian Kawaley ruled that Richard Cox would only pay a portion of the fines he originally accrued and would retain his drivers' licence after passing through the EVR detectors 11 times in an uninsured and unlicensed car.

Yesterday Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told Appeal Court president Edward Zacca the Department of Public Prosecutions wanted direction on how to interpret the demerit points portion of the intricately written piece of legislation. The DPPdid not appeal against the reduction in fines.

She noted that the current legislation was not identical to similar laws in Canada or the UK,and therefore could not be interpreted the same way.

Orinally Cox racked up $19,500 worth of fines and 33 demerit points from Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner when he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of unlicensed driving and 11 of uninsured driving between July 9 and July 29, 2008. However, he appealed the case and his lawyer Alan Dunch successfully argued that the cumulative total of the fines was "manifestly excessive".

Justice Ian Kawaley opted to let all the offences stand, but only imposed a punishment of $750 for the first offence of driving an unlicensed vehicle, with nothing on the other ten. The maximum punishment for uninsured driving is $5,040.

The judge opted to impose $4,125 for Cox's first offence, and nothing on the other ten. He also quashed a six-month driving ban, despite the fact that Cox was well over the 12 point threshold which required a suspension, saying that the demerit point law had been interpreted wrongly.Yesterday, Ms Cox and Mr. Dunch both said it was unclear in the legislation, which was implemented last July, when demerit points expired and the slate wiped clean.

They were also unsure whether Cox should be banned for more than two years due to accumulating 33 pointsMr. Dunch added the legislation could have been simpler and workable if the Government had not deviated far from what exists in other jurisdictions:"But we Bermudians like to tinker."Mr. Justice Zacca said they will need time to consider the various possible interpretations before giving a direction.

The ruling could result in other drivers launching their own legal challenges.Other drivers to be handed large fines are Carlos Simas, of Pembroke, who was fined $63,000 for 36 detections, and Nelson Pearman, also of Pembroke, who has been fined $17,750.