I don't know about the UK, but in many places they aren't allowed to give a ticket unless the photo can id the specific driver.
ETA: I may be remembering this wrong, and it was just the points that aren't given without definite ID.
That's not how it works here.
Briefly (and not completely comprehensively), speed cameras take a picture of the vehicle, usually from the back but sometimes the front. Within 14 days (unless the registered keeper cannot be determined by that time), the registered keeper of the vehicle gets a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) in the post, which requires them to state who was driving the car at the time of the alleged offence.
The RK has to furnish this information, within 28 days. They can ask for any pictures to help them identify who was driving, but the police don't have to supply the pictures and this request doesn't stop the clock running on the 28 days.
If they don't give the information they commit an offence under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act, for which they can be given 6 points and up to £1,000 fine, plus an MS90 code on their insurance which insurers do not like.
Assuming the RK has returned the NIP with information about the driver, some forces may look at the photographs and if a male driver has been nominated when it is clearly a female in the picture, they will go go back to the RK for clarification. Mostly, though, as long as the nominated driver is the holder of a UK licence and is resident in the country, the driver will then get his or own NIP. After that is returned, there are three things which may happen next, which depend on the detected speed.
1) If the speed is up to 10% of the permitted speed +9 (so 42 in a 30, 53 in a 40 etc) then the driver may be offered a speed awareness course instead of opting to go to court, which costs more than the standard fine but carries no points. Generally, a person can only do one speed awareness course in any three year period.
2)If the speed is greater than this but less than 25mph over the limit (20mph in a 30), they will be offered a standard fixed penalty £60 plus 3 points as an alternative to taking the matter to court. The offence code is SP30 (SP50 on a motorway), which insurers don't mind so much.
3) If the speed is greater than the limit plus 25 (though 50 in a 30), it's straight to court. There, magistrates follow sentencing guidelines which can be looked at
here.
In all cases, a person who does not accept they were speeding can defend it in court, the idea of the fixed penalty system is to free up the courts and allow drivers to take a small penalty in return for not having the trouble and cost of court.
A driver amassing 12 penalty points in any three year period faces an automatic 6 month driving ban, though this can be reduced with a hardship plea.
So Mr Huhne was caught by a speeding camera, and as he already had 9 (or possibly more) points on his licence, he was facing an automatic six month ban. He then allegedly persuaded/coerced his wife into admitting that she was the driver on the NIP. She will have then been offered the SAC/3 points and £60, and she paid the fine and had the points put on her licence.
Now Huhne faces the end of his career and an almost certain term of imprisonment, which is a hell of a lot worse than a six month driving ban (which he may have been able to reduce with a good motoring lawyer like Nick Freeman). As an MP, even if he had lost his licence he could have afforded to take taxis or employ a driver, and as his constituency is very close to London he could have used the train to get to/from the House.
PCoJ is taken so seriously in this country that really, he has been the architect of his own misfortune.
Not that I am an 'Expert' like some of the folks on there, I have an interest as I do a heck of a lot of miles a year.
